Last night, Rowan woke up from his sleep and told me, "Mom, call Jalene's Mommy. Tell her Jalene still wants us to go tomorrow, even it rains." Then he told me, "Jalene said she will open up a spot for us, and give us some kind of sign." He went on to tell me that he promised that he felt it in his heart, and that her birthday is still important, more important than rain. I texted all of that to Jen just after midnight, and she said "we are going, rain or shine."
With all the rain in the past few days... the absolute downpours, the flooding, the events cancelled all over town, etc., the odds of this balloon release working out as planned were stacked against us. Jen and I wanted to believe that it would work out, we wanted to honor Jalene's birthday, and we tried to have faith. I don't think either of us knew just how beautiful the day would end up being though. Rowan of course did. He told me on the way there, as he watched the skies open up, turning bluer by the mile, "I told you Mom! She IS opening up a spot for us. All the balloons are going to make it."
Rowan and I were the first one's there. We found her resting place, and enjoyed a quiet moment alone there.
Rowan picked up any of the flowers that had fallen out of their pots, or off their wreaths, and lovingly placed them back where they belonged.
Then he went around to the neighboring graves and did the same. He wanted it all to look perfect.
There was such a peaceful, quiet calm surrounding us. Then the wind started to pick up for just a moment, and one of the colorful windmills started spinning. Not both. Just one. Just the one closest to Rowan. He turned back to me and said, "Mom, she's talking to me!"
A few seconds later, he looked up at the sky, saw the sun just beaming from behind the trees and said again..."Like I said, I told you."
We began placing the wrapped, empty boxes around her resting place...boxes that her Mom hoped would be filled with gifts by the end of the celebration, gifts for patients at the hospital...to be donated in Jalene's honor.
And box by box, we watched as that wish did come true...
Until they were overflowing by the end of the day...
Rowan had prepared a few special things himself, to bring today. The first was flowers that he had dyed for Jen overnight. He used pink, yellow and blue food coloring and dyed white roses and spider mums. He wanted to have the perfect colored flowers to give Jalene's Mommy.
He checked them every hour last night...
The colors didn't turn out super vibrant, but they were done with love, and had just a hint of pink, blue and yellow in them by morning.
I tied some tulle ribbon around them...
which Rowan promptly noticed looked like angel wings:)
He gave them to Jen today, and she loved them...
The other personal item that he worked on was his note to Jalene...which he wanted to tie onto his balloon, to send the message up to heaven.
We left the house early...
...and stopped at HEB to pick up balloons. He had chosen a huge Olaf one for him to send up, and some pink and yellow ones to pass out to others.
They nearly filled the car...
As people started arriving, there were many hugs to give out. It was a beautiful sight. Nearly 100 family, friends and loved ones gathered in the memory and honor of one very special little girl. You could feel the love all around you.
The pink, yellow and blue (for Frozen) balloons and decorations couldn't have been more perfect...
One of the most beautiful moments of the entire day though, was the praise and worship team singing their slowed down version of "Shake it Off" by Taylor Swift. It was a rendition that they had done at the funeral back in March, which didn't leave a dry eye in the house.
Today wasn't much different. But this time...I was able to record a little bit of it. Just AMAZING! And so perfect for Jalene's birthday...
Next up was the balloon release. Rowan was ready...with Olaf holding his special message to his friend Jalene...
Everyone else was ready too...
And the release was nothing short of amazing!
(One of my favorite pictures of the day! You can actually read the birthday message to Jalene on the big yellow balloon!)
More than one person took a picture like this one above today. Notice the heart shaped cloud right in the middle. Some of the other photos looked like an angel was carrying the heart, as in this one below taken by someone else today... (look to the right of the heart).
Perhaps this was the sign Jalene promised her Mommy in Rowan's dream last night?!
Or maybe it was this gorgeous rainbow of light completely surrounding her grave in this photo...
Or this picture of Mason and Rowan, two of Jalene's best friends...
(The sun was shining down on them from above, but Rowan's brother, Ian, also noticed that there is a rainbow beam of light shining on them from the front too, as if Jalene was trying to show them both that she is still with them.)
Or even this one...as we got in our car at the cemetery, at the end of the day, and took off Rowan's rain boots, we beat them on the side of the car to get the mud off. It came out in clumps, and Rowan yelled, "Mom, wait, look! She's even giving us signs in the dirt!" (a perfect mud cross:)
Rowan and I saw multiple signs like this today. And if you were there, we bet you did too. You probably even saw some different ones than we've captured here. But a few things are undeniable... Jalene's "Joy" was felt today! Her life was celebrated! Her memory was honored! We sang Happy Birthday to her. We sent her our love and best wishes to heaven. It was not a sad day. Sure, there were tears, but there was more love and joy than there was sadness. It was a perfect day, in more ways than one!
And as we drove home to New Braunfels, and watched the clouds thicken once again, and the skies begin to darken, and the sun fade away, little by little...until it started sprinkling rain again as we turned onto our road...
Rowan looked out the window, smiled, and said "See, I told you Mom. She opened up a way... just long enough."
(Please continue to pray for Jalene's family tonight, and in the coming days, weeks and months. While today was a monumentally beautiful day, filled with love and laughter, celebrating their precious angel in a beautiful way ...they undoubtedly still miss her more than any of us can comprehend. They still need our prayers and support,)
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