A Memory Walk in NYC Tomorrow

Enjoying the incredible Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC

Central Park - June 2005, NYC

The Bears Outside of the Met

I can't possibly express enough thank yous and gratitude for everyone's kindness. When Shayne and I met with the wonderful Rich and Andrea Traunero at their funeral home this morning to make our final payment they asked if they gave me enough thank you cards. I told them that I wasn't planning on sending any.....Where would I even possibly begin? I hope no one is disappointed. (All Christi Thomas Memorial Fund donations given on line will receive an email receipt. If given directly, a recent will be sent.) So please accept this as our Thomas team THANKS and know that we will never be able to pay anyone back for all of their love and thoughtfulness, but we are dedicated to PAYING IT FORWARD!

We know that the months and years down the road will be the hardest. We're doing ok. Seeing Christi's room, where she LOVED being, and many of her belongings is very difficult and frequently moves us to tears. Picking Shayla up at religion the other night required me to bump into Christi's wonderful friends. Kids are great! They of course came running up to me to give me HUGE hugs, which I really loved even though I felt it was killing me inside. My heart hurts so much knowing Christi took great joy in being with them and it's hard. At the funeral home we asked many of them to please be like a big sister to Shayla now and they said they would. Shayne has been taking Shayla to and from school each day as that's way too much for me right now. He's been watching the sweet 5th grade girls play with Shayla on the playground. What sweethearts!

I knew I was going to break down the first time I heard Shayla call out, "Christi!" as she so often did when encountering something too difficult for her to do. Well, it happened this afternoon. After school she was working on this AWESOME Pokemon poster / sticker thingy (THANK YOU!) as she has been doing for days. I was in the kitchen when I heard, "Christi!" I went in and said, "Were you talking to Christi? I've been doing it every day even though she hasn't talked back to me yet." She giggled and said, "No, I just forgot." Losing your only sibling and biggest playmate - that's tough! Forgetting for a bit - that's good! May God be with Shayla.

We've been so touched to learn of moments of silence that have taken place before ball games and for a standing ovation at the Ritz which was so lovingly given in Christi's memory. Tomorrow will be a "Memory Walk" in NYC and trust me - Shayne and I checked into flights, but that just didn't seem like the best thing to do right now until my paycheck returns to what it was. I will get myself back to my love of teaching; it just going to be a matter of time.

Nitza and Caroline, the girls' teachers at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, will be taking a memorial walk in Christi's honor on Saturday morning. They will meet in the Astor Court of the Asian Art Galleries in the museum spend a short time in the Japanese galleries and then take a walk down 5th Ave., past the Bear sculpture in the playground to the Central Park Zoo, down to the horse drawn carriages at 59th Streetand finally to St. Patrick's Cathedral where they will light a candle in Christi's memory. Some of the Thomas team favorite NYC places and people! THANK YOU! We are so touched by this loving gesture!