I have to comment on this. Thank you for this. I just want to say that our other daughter's 7th birthday party was scheduled a week after the tragedy. While I was still in a coma, and our other daughter in Heaven, my wife had the strength to carry on and have the party for our little girl. She wanted her to have the best life she could, regardless of the tragedy. So that's the kind of strength she had. That summer while I was in the hospital, she was taking our daughter to girl scouts, camp, etc, and not letting this ruin her life. My wife is also a physical therapist which helped for sure. And yes, I was in a wheelchair for months. In between surgeries, while I was at home, she set up my drums...brought them in from the garage. Then I'd wheel over and try to hit the bass drum with the prosthetic foot.
I want you guys to know that we have a good life...out daughter is now 13 and very happy and successful in her life, we travel, do fun things, and deal with our other challenges. It's possible to miss and grieve the loss of a child still enjoy your life --- she would have wanted this for us. And it wouldn't be fair to our other kids to put ourselves in a depressed rut all the time. That's not to say I don't look forward to when I can see her again on the other side, but I have to do the best I can while I'm here.
Thank you --- and everyone --- for your kind posts.