Mikey was a son, a husband, and a father of two little girls ages 8 and 3.
Then I came across a truly beautiful post from Shauna at Gluten-Free Girl about the wonderful time she and her family had spent with Jennifer, Mikey and their girls recently.
This whole thing has had me in tears.
All day I've been thinking about Jennifer, whom I've never met, and her two daughters.
Suddenly their lives have been changed forever.
Without warning.
Without the chance to say goodbye.
My heart completely breaks for them.
Our oldest daughter goes away to college on the 22nd.
Our other two children start school on Monday.
My anniversary with Mr. 365 is Wednesday.
Life is going by too quickly and it is too short.
As it usually happens, life is put into perspective when something like this jolts us back to reality.
Things that seem monumental and worry us so very much now become trivial and unimportant.
Unfortunately, there are so many times life is taken for granted; that we will be around to see tomorrow, watch our kids grow up and get married, grow old with our spouses or significant other and enjoy our grandchildren or just plain grow old.
Mikey has none of this now.
How can adults explain to children that their father is gone, that it was "just his time" or "he's in a better place" if they had been suffering, when as adults we can't even make sense of it ourselves?
I was running an errand tonight and on the way home I was listening to one of the three Christian radio stations that I flip between in the car.
On one of them, Chuck Swindoll was talking about Job's trials in the Bible and about grieving.
Ironic?
No,
Intentional.
We are given things when we are ready to hear them.
He brought up some good points when dealing with those who are grieving.
There are times when they want and need to be silent.
And need us to be silent.
Yet we, feeling either uncomfortable with grief and not knowing what to say or how to offer comfort, talk, and many times, too much.
Just be there.
A hug, a hand to hold, or a shoulder to cry on is often more of what is wanted than words.
And just be there...
To listen.
It's good to talk about those we've lost, share stories of times we've shared - it helps to keep the memories alive and can offer a great amount of comfort to those in pain.
Too often we fear that if we talk about the person who has passed that we will just create more pain for those closest to him or her.
When in fact, it could be just the opposite.
Speak from the heart and watch your words, for once they are spoken they cannot be taken back.
Come from love.
And just be.
Jennifer asked all of her readers to honor Mikey by making a Creamy Peanut Butter Pie today, something she had been meaning to make him for the past few weeks, but unfortunately never did, and to share it with those we love.
There are many, many bloggers around the world who have done just that and some of them can be found here on a Food Network post.
And she also requested that we "hug them like there's no tomorrow because today is the only guarantee we can count on."
The recipe that follows is the Creamy Peanut Butter Pie adapted from Jennie's blog.
For Mikey.
Creamy Peanut Butter Pie - Serves 10 to 12
8 ounces Oreos
4 tablespoons butter, melted
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 1/2 cup)
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
3-4 tablespoons Hershey's Chocolate Sauce
Place the Oreo cookies in a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs.
Combine melted butter and cookie crumbs in a small bowl, and stir with a fork to mix well.
Press mixture into the bottom and 1-inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan.
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Pour over bottom of cookie crust and spread to the edges using an off-set spatula.
Place pan in the refrigerator while filling is prepared.
Pour the heavy cream into a mixing bowl and beat until stiff peaks form.
Transfer to a small bowl and store in refrigerator until ready to use.
Clean the mixing bowl.
Place the cream cheese and peanut butter in the mixing bowl.
Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.
Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in the confectioner's sugar.
Add the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and lemon juice.
Increase speed to medium and beat until all the ingredients are combined and filling is smooth.
Stir in 1/3 of the whipped cream into the filling mixture (this will help to lighten the batter, and makes it easier to fold in the remaining whipped cream).
Fold in the remaining whipped cream.
Pour the filling into the prepared springform pan.
Drizzle the Hershey's chocolate syrup on top, and refrigerate for three hours or overnight before serving.
The pie is in the fridge and will be there overnight.
It's just not ready to eat yet.
I'll post the final picture and review tomorrow.
Give hugs.
Give kisses.
Talk, but not too much.
Tell those around you that you love them.
And listen.
Don't wait.
Tomorrow may never come.
It was so very rich and believe it or not, I could only eat 1/2 of the piece.
It was delicious.
And a fitting tribute to Mikey.
Thank you, Jennifer, for sharing your recipe, but more importantly your life and your pain.
I pray that the love that has poured forth from the flood blogging community brings comfort.
For you.
For your daughters.
For Mikey.
Beautiful post. I've been reading about Jennifer today, and everyone's posts have been so moving. (I just went in and told my husband I love him!)
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