Happy 7th Birthday in Heaven!

Every year when I turn my calendar to October, I dread the emotions and feelings that come over me throughout the month. October is a hard month for me and I think it always will be. On October 1st, I begin to pray God would send me reminders of Rylan. I ask God to reveal himself. My eyes are wide-open and I am searching, and every year God is faithful. This year, God gave me a beautiful song (I call it the "Amen song), but it is "Because He Lives" by Matt Maher. It is a wonderful reminder of God's sacrifice and I can face tomorrow because Jesus lives. Praise God for hope and strength each day. Also, there is a video of girls singing "Amazing Grace." It is angelic and heavenly. I love it.

This year, God has used Anna Claire to remind me of Rylan. Anna Claire is very interested in Rylan; she loves to look at pictures and ask questions. Most of the questions she has, I do not have an answer. Last night, Anna Claire wanted to know Rylan's favorite color. I told her I did not know because she was a baby when she died. I suggested maybe Rylan likes pink. Anna Claire quickly responded with "Mom, I know she likes rainbow colors. Rainbow colors are so pretty. We should make rainbow cupcakes this year to remind us of Rylan." I had tears in my eyes and thought about how for the past seven years rainbows have reminded me of Rylan and God's promises. Thank you, Lord, for using Anna Claire.

Rylan,
You are precious, and I thankful you are my daughter. Your life and death have touched the hearts of many. My heart has a compassion and love deeper each day because of you. Happy 7th Birthday in heaven! May the rainbows in heaven be beautiful on your special day!

Love,
Mom

http://fascinately.com/feel-good/2015/10/byu-noteworthy-performs-beautiful-amazing-grace-my-chains-are-gone-cover/

Happy Sixth Birthday in Heaven!

Rylan,
Today, I am remembering all the beautiful things you have taught me over the past six years. Because of you, I truly believe in God's faithfulness in all situations. Because of you, I love and care deeper for our family and friends. And because of you, I know there is a rainbow after the rain. The day you came into this world, my heart was full of joy. The day you left this world, a piece of my heart went too. I miss you everyday . Happy Birthday, Rylan Elizabeth! Until we meet again, Mommy

He is Risen, Indeed!

Easter has always been my favorite Christian holiday and celebration. I love the worship on Easter Sunday, the genuine sacrifice of our God gave to save me, and the eternal perspective the cross gives me. This Easter, I woke up with heaven on my mind. We attend church with our entire family. The first song was one of my favorite hymns, Crown Him with Many Crowns. I loved it. Singing this victorious Hymn bought me back to my childhood and the excitement I use to feel in my heart each Easter. Somehow over the past few year, that excitement has been missing from my heart. The next song was Glorious Day, which is a popular praise and worship song. Each October, I ask God to give me something to remind me of you, and he always brings something. He is faithful. This year, he brought me this amazing song to remind me of you and the beautiful sacrifice God gave by sending his one and only son to die for me that I will have eternal life in heaven. When the song began to play, I thanked God and started crying and thinking of you. I thought of you and the beauty of heaven. I closed my eyes and pictured you singing along, worshipping our Lord. You are beautiful, and you are joyful. Rylan, I am so thankful for Easter and for Jesus.... He gives me an indescrible hope of knowing we will both have heaven forever. He is Risen. he is Risen, Indeed!

Knowing Too Much

Most people would think that as the years pass and time goes by, I would miss you less and slowly forget about you....but I just keep missing you and remembering you! Lately, I have been missing you a lot and wishing you were here. The hole in my heart is getting smaller but it will always be there. The day you died, you took a piece of me with you. I look at pictures of me before October 17th, 2008 and I see a different person. I see a girl who did not know sadness and grief, who was sheltered from darkness, and who was ignorant to heartache. Now, I feel like I know too much by losing you. I know a pain like no other when you bury your child. I know the feeling of not wanting to get out of bed and the desire to shut out the world. I know the difficulty in trying so hard to be strong for my little ones and to put on a happy face. I know the guilt of laughing for the first time after you died. It is the "knowing" that has changed me forever and knowing that keeps me remembering you.

This is a gloomy, sad post, but I miss you!
Wishing I could tuck you in bed tonight,
Mommy

Freedom in Forgiveness

Freedom in Forgiveness

This letter was written to my daughter in heaven, but it was written for all the mommies and daddies who have experienced the death of a child. We all have the guilt, the blame, the bitterness, or the anger of our child's death harboring in our hearts. This is my story and my journey in finding peace and freedom in forgiveness.


Dear Rylan,
Since the day you died, the topic of forgiveness has been on my heart. When your dad and I watched you take your last breath, the bitterness and anger set in immediately as we kissed you good-bye. During the days you were alive, I prayed constantly. I begged and cried out to our God to heal you and let us take you home. However, he had a different plan. My faith was strong but untested. I was 31 years old when my world was turned upside down. I knew in my heart that God had you in His arms and had every minute of your life in His control. But I was broken and lost in my grief. I missed you, and I wanted you back.

For weeks after your death, I lived in shock that you were gone. On October 17, 2008, I went into the hospital to have a baby. On October 20th, I left with empty arms. Darkness filled my life. As I replayed the many doctor appointments, ultrasounds, and events of my labor, I began to put the pieces of the puzzle together. I was on a mission to figure out how and why you died. The more I thought about it, the more upset and angry I became with myself and the doctor. I had many questions, and I started to feel responsible for your death. I needed answers and was not going to settle for silence. Was someone responsible for your death or was this a part of "the plan?" Every day there was a reminder of you: a medical bill, a pretty little dress I could not buy for you, or a comment from a stranger about only having boys. In order to begin grieving and for my heart to heal, I needed answers.

Two months after your death, I picked up 554 pages of your medical records. I spent that entire night reading through every page. Engrossed in every detail, I was trying to put together the events that happened during your four days of life in order to determine why you died. Honestly, these records were something tangible about you; I had little that belonged to you! Although I hated that you died, I loved having this reminder of your life. I found my answer in the last part of the records, your fetal heart rate monitor strips. They recorded your voice and progress during labor. I got online and taught myself how to read a fhm strip. The first part of the strip looked normal. My water broke around noon, and I lost blood. The strip went downhill from there. For 30 pages, which was more than four hours, you were crying out for help and no one listened. During those four hours, you had severe declarations, pseudo signal patterns, and eventually bradycardia. As I read the strips, tears poured down my face. My sweet baby girl cried out, fought for her life in a hospital, and was ignored. I was crushed at the thought of you suffering. I did blame the doctor, but I also blamed myself for not being more proactive and for not knowing what was going on with you during labor. I am sorry, Rylan, for not doing more.

Your daddy and I talked and prayed about our findings. We decided to file a wrongful death suit against the doctor in order to hold her accountable. We also wanted to ensure that other families would be given proper medical care and attention in the future. No one should suffer the loss of a baby due to the negligence and arrogance of a doctor. We began this journey of seeking justice for you, Rylan Elizabeth, at the beginning of 2009. After losing you, I kept a journal with a letter to you. The beginning of the journal was filled with sadness, weeping, and anger. In the spring of 2009, my heart was convicted to FORGIVE. Even though it was satisfying to blame someone for your death, I knew that God was calling me to obey and forgive the doctor. I struggled for weeks and justified my anger and hatred towards the doctor due to your death, my one and only daughter. I came to the realization that you were not coming back, regardless of what I did, said, or felt. For the first time in my life, I was not in control and hated it. With a heavy heart, I finally decided to give everything over to God and forgive the doctor. I cannot describe the peace that I experienced; a huge burden had been lifted that day. This was part of the grieving process for me, and I needed to forgive to move forward. I forgave the doctor that was responsible for your death, and I forgave myself for your death. I will never forget you. However, as time passes, the memories of those ten months of pregnancy and four days with you on earth are fading. There are days when I think only about you and what it would be like to have you in our family. On those days, I close my eyes and do not have anger or bitterness harboring in my heart and mind. Instead, I have peace as I try to remember you...your smell, your breathing, your chubby cheeks, and your beautiful lips.

After countless hours of depositions and meetings, your wrongful death lawsuit was settled on February 2, 2012. I have closure and my heart is healing. There was justice and accountability for your death, but there is still no "you." After the mediation was over, your dad and I went to the cemetery. I looked at your headstone and thanked our God for you. I cried tears of joy for our victory. I could finally say "Rest In Peace, My Baby Girl!"

The past four years were a test of endurance, faith, and hope. God kept me out of the pit of darkness and depression; He brought me to the "light." I found that my faith was my foundation. No matter what trial comes my way, I will not give in or give up. I also learned that perseverance and trust in the Lord will carry me through anything. When I look back and think about you, my sweet Rylan Elizabeth, I think of the many good things that came from your life and are still coming because you are my daughter. Your life was short, but you have made your mark on my heart and the lives of many.

Happy Fourth Birthday, Rylan! May all of your days be filled with joy and the amazing wonders of our God in heaven.

Until we meet again,

Mommy

Welcome to Holland: When Life Does Not Go As Planned

A friend of mine shared this poem at MOPS this week, and it really spoke to my heart. So many times we think we have our lives all planned out, and most of the time God has something different in-store for us. Am I willing to accept His plan instead of mine? Am I willing to give up the control over the big and little things in this life? Through life's joys and struggles, take the time to ENJOY HOLLAND....it is not what we expected, but it is beautiful. God will reveal Himself and you will start to see the "good" around you and the glory and grace of our Creator. Welcome To Holland I am often asked to describe the experience of raisin a child with disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to imagine how it would feel. It is like this... When you're goin to have a baby, it is like plannin a fabulous vaction trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michaelangelo David. The Gondolas of Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It is all very Excitin. After months of anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bag and off you go. Several hours later the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, 'Welcome to Holland'. 'Holland? ' you say. 'What do you mean Holland? I signed up for Italy! ! ! I am supposed to be in Italy. All my life I have dreamed of goin to Italy! '. But there has been a change in flight plan, they have landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing in that they have not taken you to a horrible, disgustin, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It is just a different place. So you must go out and buy new guidebooks. And you must learn a new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met before. It is just a different place. It's a slower paced than Italy. It's less flashy than Italy. But after you have been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills, Holland has tulips and Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy comin and goin from Italy and they are all braggin about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life you will say, 'Yes, that is where i was supposed to go, That's where I had planned'. And the pain of that will never, ever go away, because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss, but if you spend your life mournin the fact that you didn't go to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland. Poem by Dannielle Williams

Remembing You Today

If you know someone who has lost a child or lost anybody who's important to them, and you're afraid to mention them because you think you might make them sad by reminding them that they died, they didn't forget they died. You're not reminding them. What you're reminding them of is that you remember that they lived, and that's a great, great gift.'" Elizabeth Edwards It makes me so happy when someone says your name. As time goes by, I hear your name less and less. Today, I am taking a few minutes to sit quietly and remember you, a precious gift. I still miss you everyday. A few Sundays ago, I was praising our God and thinking about heaven in church. While singing, God gave me a sweet image of you that I will always treasure in my heart. Jesus was in a white robe with all His amazing glory, the angels were singing too, and there you were holding on to Jesus' leg, smiling, and singing praises to Him. That was the first time, I truly felt a sense of peace and understanding that you were happy in heaven. Thank you, God, for that reminder. Rylan, I love you and remember you always! Love, Mommy