It was held in the evening at Riverdale Park in Toronto, right outside the gates to Riverdale Farm, which was Stella's favourite place in the world.
We got there early, and since Jenn has mutual friends of Stella's moms, we were able to meet Mishi and Aimee. We just said a brief hello to each of them. Mishi held my hand so tightly, smiled so brightly, even noticed that my friend Stacey wasn't dressed warmly enough, and my immediate thought was how strong she is. I'm sure she doesn't feel that way, and she probably hates hearing it, but that was my immediate impression. I told her who I was, that I'd written the blog post that she and her sister Heather had read and commented on. She told me that it was incredible, and I replied that I was glad she'd read it because Stella was very special.
Hundreds of people turned out for the Stella-bration. There was so much thought put into every single detail. The paths were lined with lanterns. There was a huge picture of Stella. Wonderful music was playing (we cried when they played I Don't Want to Live On the Moon from Sesame Street while we stood looking at the picture of Stella and reflecting on all we had learned from her.)
It was chilly, cloudy, a bit of dampness in the air. Upon arrival, everyone was given a program, a candle, and a small stone with a star on it, and directed to Stella's tree, where we took a moment to think about Stella, shed some tears, and leave our stones and gifts. Stella's Poppa and a friend played the trumpet to announce the beginning of the ceremony. Several of Stella's family members and friends stood up and told their favourite Stella stories. There were some tears during this part of the ceremony, but much more laughter because Stella was quite a character. I was touched by how she was such a typical toddler, and yet such a remarkable child at the same time.
After the speeches, we had a Timbit Toast. Timbits, for those who don't know, are small, round "donut holes" made by Tim Hortons, an extremely popular coffee and donut chain in Canada. Stella loved chocolate Timbits and her Poppa brought her one every single day. Many people had brought Timbits and Jenn passed our box around to some people who didn't have any. We all said, "Stella, this Timbit is for you," and then we ate them like Cookie Monster.
And then it was time for the candlelight vigil and sing-along. We were right at the front so there was a lantern in front of us, which we used to light our candles. Volunteers started lighting other people's candles, and those with lit candles shared their flames with those around them, so that before long, there was a beautiful sea of candle-lit faces. We sang three songs, Thank You for Being a Friend (the theme song from Golden Girls, because Stella was a big fan of the show), Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and finally, Happy Birthday. Throughout the songs, it was a bit windy and people's candles were sporadically going out, with other people lighting them back up again, so that, when it came time to sing Happy Birthday, the candles were, for the most part, lit. We sang the song and on the count of three, we were all going to blow out our candles. The MC counted to two and just as we all took a breath and got ready to blow, a big gust of wind came along and all of the candles went out at the exact same moment. It was an incredible moment that I will never forget.
The Stella-bration was one of the most loving, beautiful, even joyful events I've ever attended. A true celebration. Seeing Stella's moms, and the tight circle of family and friends around them, made me realize that they are going to be okay. Their lives will always have an undertone of sadness now, but that doesn't mean they can't be happy. They are choosing to live the fullest lives they can to honour their daughter, and using the lessons they learned from her to be the best parents they can possibly be to their two sons.
In her speech, Mishi said, "The last 16 months with her were the happiest of my life because I lived with her and not above her. We experienced life together." She urged us not to parent our children from above them, and to take that extra moment whenever it's there to read another story, cuddle a minute longer, and take the time to do what your child wants to do and not what you think they should want to do.
She talked about how Stella used to love the orangutans at the zoo. Stella wanted to stay and watch them forever, but Mishi and Aimee would rush their tantruming daughter away from them after a few minutes because they thought she should want to see the elephants or the giraffes. After her diagnosis, they decided to let her watch the orangutans for as long as she wanted. They watched them for 90 minutes, and although they'd seen the orangutans many times, Stella forced them to really watch them, and they noticed things about them that they had never noticed before.
The whole time Mishi was telling this story, I was thinking about a time when Ian was just learning to walk. I'd read somewhere that if you have time, you should go for a walk with your toddler and let your toddler lead the way. That's exactly what I did. Ian and I went on a long walk and I followed him. We were in no rush at all. If he wanted to stop and look at the dog or the fence or the basketball net, that's what we did. He even learned two new words on that walk. It remains one of my favourite memories ever. What I realized while Mishi was talking was that the reason it's one of my favourite memories is because it only happened once. And once is not enough.
Since Stella died, I have thought of her and the lessons I took from her journey every single day. Several times a day, I find myself stopping and asking myself if this moment is worth a fight or not. Sometimes it is; many times it's not. For a week after Halloween, I asked myself if it really mattered if the kids had a sucker or a piece of gum in the morning. Halloween had just happened, the candy was right there where they could see it, and what difference did it make if they had it now or later? So I let them have it when they wanted it. It saved us all the wasted energy and emotion of an argument, and eating a sucker in the morning actually didn't rot their teeth on the spot or ruin their eating habits for life. It only made them happy.
Since Stella died, I have smiled at my kids more and worked hard at making more moments special. An evening walk with Ian and the dog turned into a beautiful experience because Ian wanted to go stand in the middle of the baseball field, and instead of complaining that I was cold and it was dark and we needed to get home because it was almost bedtime, I thought of Stella and said okay. We stood in the middle of the field and we held hands and looked at the stars. There weren't a lot of stars that night, just enough for Ian to pick one out and tell me how he was going to climb a ladder to the sky and bring the star down, words that took my breath away and gave me a much-needed reminder of the magic of childhood, because he believed with everything in him that he could do that.
I have decided to keep the TV off in the mornings. The main reason I came to this decision was because Ian has been very rough with the animals lately. I decided that in order to save the animals from toddler torture, or at least decrease the amount of toddler torture they were receiving, it might help if Ian had some motivation, the motivation being a bedtime TV show if he tried hard to remember during the day that we don't pound the crap out of animals.
Our old routine was that when the kids woke up (they wake up really early; if it's 6:30 we feel like we slept in), we would turn the TV on in our room and they would watch a show or two while we snoozed for another half an hour or 40 minutes. During this time, they would get bored and start bugging each other and Kim or I would end up yelling at them that if they didn't stop, the TV would be turned off. At times, we would get so frustrated because we just wanted ten more minutes that we even got mad and told them to leave our room and go play somewhere else for a few minutes until we were ready to get up.
Kim was on overnights the week I decided to change our morning routine, so I was on my own. The first morning was rough. The kids were up just before 6, and I just wanted to turn the TV on and go back to sleep. I can't even explain how badly I wanted to do that. But I thought about all the things we could do if I didn't turn the TV on, so I got up. We all got up, and we took the dog for a walk (it was still dark out!) and I let the kids walk in their pajamas, which resulted in a big round of cheers and giggles. We had breakfast together. I had time to read them a couple of books and help them get a craft going before I had to start on the morning routine of making lunch, packing bags, and getting us all ready and out the door. The whole morning just went at a much nicer, much less frantic pace, and we were all happier for it. So we've continued to do it. What we do with our extra morning time varies. Some days we walk the dog, some days we decide to stay home and walk the dog later. This morning, Ian and I went downstairs in the dark and before he had breakfast, he told me he was cold. I put a shirt over his pajama top but when I went to start breakfast he insisted he was still cold. Normally, I would be in a rush, and I would be cranky and stressed, and I would have told him to go upstairs and get a sweater or a blanket. But today, I wasn't in a rush, so I said, "Oh, do you need a cuddle?" His face lit up and he said yes, and he crawled into my lap and I wrapped him in the biggest, tightest, warmest hug I could and he put his head on my chest and we stayed like that for at least five minutes before he got bored and squirmed away from me. As soon as he got down, Erik came down the stairs and then he crawled into my lap and I wrapped him in the biggest, tightest, warmest hug I could and he put his head on my chest and we stayed like that for at least five minutes.
It turns out that quality time with the kids is way better than sleep.
Every day I'm making an effort to slow down whenever I can, to listen to them, to ask myself several times a day what the importance of this moment is, and what I can turn this moment into. I'm learning to make better choices. I'm not perfect. No one is. There are still and always will be times when I have very little patience. I still get frustrated and yell at times. But I've learned the importance of admitting to them when I'm wrong, and to forgive myself, because I'm human and let's face it, parenting is hard and kids can be frustrating. The important thing is that I appreciate my children. I've always appreciated them, but now, every single day, I take the time to acknowledge that, and not just to myself. I tell them and show them that they are appreciated. That they are loved. That they are the dreams come true that they are to me. Every day now, I remember that it needs to exist outside my own head and heart.
I'd learned the lesson already from reading Stella's blog, but when Mishi said, "I lived with her and not above her", the lesson was solidified into a brief series of words that I can hold close and repeat to myself - and to other people - as we move forward in this wonderful, confusing, and difficult journey of raising children.
You can read more about the Stella-bration in this article from the Toronto Star.
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