Post by sproctopus on Aug 23, 2016 14:18:58 GMT -5
On August 27th, I, along with family and friends, are celebrating the 4th birthday of our son who was not able to stay on earth here with us for long enough. We started a tradition on his 1st birthday to commit RAOK all day, in remembrance of him.
Now in our 3rd year, we're gearing up for his 4th birthday this year. His name was Dziko, a Malawian word for "our world". He was beautiful, he looked just like his father and did backflips whenever I ate chocolate-covered Oreos. If you'd like, you can read more about his story and our journey on www.thetroublewas.wordpress.com.
We have an Instagram account (happybirthdaydziko) and use that same handle as a hashtag to follow all the random acts of kindness and repost them so that we can see how far they spread across the world. Each year has gotten a little bit bigger-- and although it's bittersweet, it makes such a difference in our emotions on the anniversary of his life and death. I know that it's sort of against the idea of RAOK to announce what you did, but I hope in this instance people can see that it's less about being self-congratulatory and more about helping us see the difference his spirit still makes in the world, even though he can't be here with us.
I'm obviously not a regular around these parts, and completely understand if most or all aren't interested, especially using their social media profiles. But if you have a few moments or the opportunity to brighten someone's day with him in mind this week or on Saturday, I'd love to hear about it.
I am so sorry for your loss, I am a stranger but am so honored to be able to celebrate your son and your family with a kind act or help to make someone's day brighter, I am going to donate to the Boys and Girls club in my area and I hope this makes someone's day better in memory of your son.
How do you pronounce his name? I would like to add him to my RAOK list.
The "D" is very soft, but makes the Z almost...hard. Zee-ko is the closest pronunciation, if you can't get the "Dz" portion. The Dz makes like kind of a buzzing noise? I'm not doing a great job here, lol. It took me a long time to understand those consonants together:)
How do you pronounce his name? I would like to add him to my RAOK list.
The "D" is very soft, but makes the Z almost...hard. Zee-ko is the closest pronunciation, if you can't get the "Dz" portion. The Dz makes like kind of a buzzing noise? I'm not doing a great job here, lol. It took me a long time to understand those consonants together:)
I'm so sorry for your loss. I just read your story. You are a beautiful person, as is your family and your precious son. I cannot think of a better way to honor sweet Dziko. Thank you for sharing and I will participate on his birthdays.
Post by sproctopus on Aug 25, 2016 22:08:03 GMT -5
I hope it's ok if I bump this- I spent all night prepping my RAsOK and just wanted to share.
I made two herb gardens for each of my favorite neighbors.
I packed up milkbones in ziploc baggies and will leave them outside the gates at our favorite dog park. I also got some new balls for the park.
I made a treat jar for the really awesome kids next door.
I made up paper bags with "Pokéfuel" (water, chips, fruit snacks and cookies) for Pokémon players at my favorite park to "hunt" in.
My bff owns a cupcake shop and is donating mini cupcakes for me to deliver to NICU nurses in the hospitals we spent time at when we lost our son.
Thanks for letting me share this stuff.
(Ignore Trump- my friend sent me a piñata of him, complete with awesome candy, to beat the crap out of on Saturday-- a visualization, if you will, that sometimes good stuff can come out of utter shit)