Becky Norris
My name is Becky. I am the mommy of Caleb Dalton Norris. I lost my precious little boy, and only child, suddenly on March 29, 2008. His birthday is April 26, 2004, so he was about a month shy of his 4th birthday when he passed. Caleb was a loving, beautiful little boy and touched so many lives in his short time on Earth. Caleb was autistic and had delayed speech, so he didn’t say a lot of words, but our bond didn’t require many words. I’ve always believed that Caleb was carried away safely to the arms of Jesus that night as I slept. I woke the morning of Saturday March 29th to find Caleb in his bed. He had passed in his sleep.I’m now in my 12th year of my grief journey. This is not an easy life by any means. Personally, I believe the grief journey doesn’t end until we’re reunited with our children for eternity.
In the beginning, I felt completely lost and numb to life. After Caleb had been gone about two years, I ended up in an institution because I felt there was nothing left for me here. For years I struggled with my purpose in life after I lost Caleb. I believed being his mommy was my only purpose. Through the years, I’ve learned that grief can come out of nowhere and at any given time. But because of the deep love I have for him, I know that’s the reason I’ll grieve until I’m with him again. I now believe God does has a purpose for me. I try to help others in grief.
My life without Caleb has certainly been quite difficult at times. For many years I drank in an attempt to continue to numb my pain. I couldn’t see a life without him I’d never get the opportunity to watch him reach the milestones of life. But I finally came to accept that Caleb’s short life year was the will of God.
I do still have bad days that I miss him so much, but I’ve learned in this journey that I’ll always miss him until I’m with him again. He’s always in my heart and I think of him every single day, but my grief is not so intense now. My hope rests in knowing he’s always with me in spirit and that one day, we will never part again.
Becky, thank you for sharing Caleb, your story, and your feelings!
Becky, My condolences go out to you. What a handsome boy your Caleb was ! It is so awful what we have to go through, struggle with, every single day and people do not understand. I’ve actually had a person say to me, “You are still this upset about losing your son”.. yes, someone actually said that…and that was only about 5 months after we lost our son Nick. Reading your story, I feel kind of guilty because Caleb was only 4 (almost 4) I had my boy for 28 yrs, i am very thankful for that, I wish you had, had more time with him. I am sure he is watching over his mama from the heavens above. Thank you for sharing your story.
Thank you for sharing your story with the rest of us. He is a beautiful son, and I know you were and are so proud of him. I’ve had many loses in my life, but nothing compares to losing a child. And the really hard thing is that it never ending. We live with the pain forever.
You are in my thoughts and prayers.