Warm Weather!

We still miss our little furry guy terribly. He was such a special furbaby! AJ was a good distraction from our sorrows this weekend as he welcomed the warm weather with a big smile! AJ totally enjoyed his weekend, taking walks, basking in the warm air, etc. Jill also practiced her fondant and rose-making skills. Her "practice cake" is pictured, too.

Tygrr Returned Home

Tygrr returned home to us this weekend. His urn is made of beautiful cherry wood. The emergency vet hospital also sent us a card and included paw prints of Tygrr that they made for us. It was very touching to receive them, and we're also so thankful for the thoughtful family and friends who sent us cards, e-mailed us, or gave us a call during our sad time!

In addition, we received the results of the biopsy this weekend: It was confirmed that Tygrr did have toxicity of the liver. The toxicity spread to his pancreas as well. All of this was a result of Tygrr taking the medicine that the vet had prescribed. Needless to say, we are quite upset with the Vet and will be contacting them soon.

Orange & Maroon Effect

As most of you know, Jill is a Hokie. She was the 12th member of her family to graduate from Virginia Tech and her youngest brother, Alex is a junior there (he's ok). We are all deeply saddened about the tragedy at a place that we all deemed sacred. Our hearts and prayers go out to everyone affected.

Virginia Tech family members across the country have united to declare this Friday, April 20th, an “ Orange and Maroon Effect” day to honor those killed in the tragic events on campus Monday, and to show support for Virginia Tech students, faculty, administrators, staff, alumni, and friends. “ Orange and Maroon Effect” was born several years ago as an invitation to Tech fans to wear orange and maroon to Virginia Tech athletic events. We invite everyone from all over the country to be a part of the Virginia Tech family this Friday, to wear orange and maroon to support the families of those who were lost, and to support the school and community we all love so much.

Our Sweet Tygrr

Tygrr Czajkowski
April 16, 2000 - April 16, 2007

We are devastated to inform you all that our cat, Tygrr passed away yesterday at 3:15pm. He died on his 7th birthday. It was also Andy's birthday as well. He took his last breath while in Andy's arms with both of us present. We like to think that he knew how much we loved him and that we were there for him in the end.

We got to take home his collar and some fur the vet shaved for us. The vet is also doing a biopsy on his liver to confirm that he died of toxicity from the medicine. Afterwards, Tygrr will be cremated and will return home to be with us and his urn will sit next to Catherine's in our bedroom.

Tygrr was a very special cat to us and never showed us anything but lots of love. He always talked to us and purred so loud you could hear it from another room. The house is way too quiet now without him and there are memories of him everywhere. Whiskey also misses his little brother and is walking from room to room looking for him.

We'd appreciate if you all would keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we grieve and try to heal from this unexpected loss.

In Search of Spring/Summer

AJ here. I'm looking for Spring. The weather is not supposed to be cold. I want to get some rays now! If anyone knows where it is, please contact my Mommy & Daddy. Thank you and have a nice day!

AJ's First Easter

AJ had his first Easter! The Easter Bunny came and brought him a new bib, anti-bacterial gels, some Curious George eggs, and some candy that Mom & Dad will *just* have to eat since AJ cannot eat it yet. Grandpa Czajkowski also sent Mr. AJ one of those Hallmark singing bunny/chicks/frog combos. AJ likes watching them sing.

While we were visiting Grandma & Grandpa Thomasson, AJ got LOTS of attention from all of his uncles, aunt, and from his grandparents. He spent so much fun charming them all! Uncle Todd even created him a "special" hat made of tissue paper.

7 Months Old!

AJ is 7 months old today!!! Wow! Even though he's such a big boy, his head is still a little small for his Yankee hat. It falls over his eyes and Mr. AJ does not like that at all! He spent his day playing with his friends at school. Daddy says AJ is a rock star at school! Mommy & Daddy cannot go in and out with him without hearing multiple people saying "Hi, AJ!" "Bye, AJ!" "Love the dimples AJ!" and of course, he gives them a big ol' dimpled smile. Such a heartbreaker....

Catherine's Light

One of our family goals this year is to establish a foundation in Catherine's memory, called "Catherine's Light". Our mission is to provide comfort to families who lose a child to stillbirth. One of the steps towards our goal is to create a blog and we're happy to announce that the blog has been created. The address is http://catherineslight.blogspot.com. Please check there regularly to find out updates about the foundation and stillbirth awareness.

AJ Learns to Share

AJ learned to share: He shared his cold with his mommy by sneezing directly in her face! AJ's almost over his cold, but his mommy is still stopped up.

Meanwhile, the beasties (or "furbabies") has still been misbehaving. As a result, they are both doped up on Valium to try to restore order to the Czajkowski universe. So far, we're not seeing any results, except that now we have two drunk cats who don't like to use the litterbox. Sigh.

A Shared Thought

I came across an article today about the power of one. While reading it, one paragraph really stuck out to me. I believe it is how we could best describe why we have the desire to help other families who lose children to stillbirth and why we're still driven to expand our support by creating a foundation in Catherine's memory. The paragraph is as follows:

The personal anguish is great, but more often it is of the sort that most of us experience during the course of simply living fully. The key lies not in our suffering, but in our ability to use it to connect with the pain of others. Held poorly, our torment seals us off from others or disables us; held well, awareness of our own pain enables us to resonate with that of others and work toward the healing of the whole community.

Thanks for reading and again, thanks to all of you who support our drive.