Hi all! Just letting everyone know what’s going on. The kids are back home with me, and have been doing great, from what I can tell. They seem to be dealing with the loss of their mother in a healthy way. They’ll talk about it in a matter of factly way, without sounding depressed. Diana, the 7 year old, will open up and talk about the evening that she died (both children found her before I got home), but after awhile, she’ll say “I don’t want to talk about mama anymore”. Not in a sad or depressed way - just in a matter of fact sort of way. Then she’ll go back to playing, and acting normal.
This is what I’ve found from what the children are saying. Apparently both John and Diana walked into the bathroom at the same time, and found mom doubled over in the tub. The stopper had been pulled from the drain, but Diana say’s there was about a foot of water in the tub when she found her mom. Diana says that it was mom who pulled the stopper out of the drain. So, apparently she tried to drain the tub, and either had another of her epileptic seizures (my first guess), or perhaps it was something related to her surgery, or maybe she simply slipped and fell, knocking herself unconscious - regardless, she apparently drown before the water could drain from the tub. Both kids say that they tried to pick her head up out of the water, but she was too heavy. After that, they laid on the couch and waited for me to come home.
We’re still waiting for the official autopsy report to be released. Until then, I can only guess that it was one of those three things.
As horrible as it all seems, Diana and John seem to be dealing with it OK. Please keep them in your prayers. They may seem OK for right now, but who knows down the road. Her teacher say’s that she doing great in school. I understand that most children, after losing a parent, will do poorly in school, but such is not the case with either John, or Diana. Let’s hope and pray that it stays that way. Her teacher, and also the school counselor feels that she does not need any counseling. I find that pretty amazing. I will seek counseling for all of us anyway.
Thank all of you wonderful people for your thoughts, prayers, and kindness. I’ve posted something on Cristi’s tribute site. It took me a long time to get to the point where I could post anything. She looks so beautiful in that picture, and it just breaks my heart everytime I see it. There is a link on that site to her Live Journal, which has her writing some very unfavorable things about me - I wish that could be removed from the site, since many of her family members have been looking at it. Other than that, it’s a beautiful tribute.
Thanks again to all!
Timothy J. Lamb
