Hear ye! Hear ye! PTSD season is upon us.

I don’t mean to make light of a very serious condition – but making light of it is the only way I manage to get through what I have loving termed PTSD season. Since Sam was born, PTSD season runs from September 10 – September 16. In this time, I am plagued by flashbacks and emotional upheaval as I reflect back on the six days that really changed my life forever.

This year, PTSD season has new trauma associated with it as I am doing it without my mom for the first time. It just makes it all that much crueler and rawer. My mom, my hero and my rock, stood by me through every day of my hospitalization and Sam’s NICU stay. Hell, she was there for every subsequent hospitalization Sam had, every milestone reached and missed, every triumph, every meeting with the school district, every tear shed, every divorce meeting, and every birthday celebration held at our local ice cream shop, Fenton’s.

But not this year. This year, I… we… will have to do it all without her. This years PTSD season has just a little extra to it.

In order to lessen the blow, I have decided to fill this post with pictures of my amazing mom with my amazing son. And an added bonus – a video a recently stumbled on with my mom cooing over Sam for the first time. (I’m not crying – your crying).