Today our little Angel Baby completed her mission in life and returned to live
with her Heavenly Father.
This morning we woke up to the phone ringing
at 6:15. Master Chief answered it and it was Kristi, her nurse. There was still
no change. At 6:30 the phone rang again. Another nurse was calling to tell us
they had one last drug to try to help Angel Baby and that we should probably get
ready and come down there. So we did. We got right up and threw our clothes on
from the day before so we could hurry down there. While we were dressing the
phone rang again. They told us to come NOW, and asked if we wanted to do
everything to save her. Of course we did. We drove as fast as we could to the
hospital. Upon our arrival we were told that our sweet little angel had returned
to live with her Heavenly Father.
They took us back to her bedside and
they put me in a rocking chair and they placed her in my arms. The only thing I
could think of was that she looked so peaceful. They took us to the family room
and we got to hold her for nearly 6 hours. The hospital took lots of pictures of
us and gave us a beautiful white dress, some socks and booties. They also gave
us a purple memory box with everything of hers in it, like her blood pressure
cuff, her
stethoscope, her bath soap. She was wearing
a pretty purple dress and she was beautiful.
Handing her over to the
nurse to leave was so hard. So final. They offered for us to help bathe her
again, and to come back to the hospital at any time to hold her again. Then they
took her away, cleaned her up, took more pictures (which were horrid, I wish we
had a "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep" person) and they made a lot of copies of her
foot prints, even a clay moulding of them. They snipped a small piece of her
hair in the back for us to keep. They did everything they could for us.
That afternoon we made our way to a
mortuary. We picked a beautiful white
casket that looked like a baby's bed. There were flowers, programs and
arrangements like that to be decided upon.
Sunday we went to visit a
cemetery with a
baby land. I was so sick while I was there I wanted to throw up. I didn't know
if it was because no mother should bury her baby or if it was just not the right
place to lay my baby to rest. We visited another
cemetery and while it was several thousands
of dollars more, it was so much more of a happy feeling there. We picked the
second place and even have plots for Master Chief and I to be
buried with Angel Baby.
Monday I dressed Angel Baby. Both of her grandma's came to help me. We
made her look so beautiful. In her white dress the sleeves kind of flared out
and she truly looked like an angel with her little wings. We put a diaper on
her, socks and booties. The final touch was a little white bow I had tied. I
stuck it in her hair with a little honey. Then I placed her in her casket with
her stuffed frog, moose and daddy's
Teddy bear. Then I placed her pacifier next
to her. She was surrounded by all the things she loved.
Her funeral was
Tuesday. It was lovely. Both grandma's spoke along with Jared and our stake
President. It was really the happiest funeral I have ever been to. It was
knowing that Angel Baby is back living with her Heavenly Father, in the
celestial glory she deserved. I know I will be with her again and that Master
Chief and I will raise her after we are resurrected.
Angel Baby was laid
to rest in a beautiful and happy
cemetery on Tuesday August 13, 2002. As a
tribute to her we all released pink balloons into the air after the ceremony. As
the balloons were released Grandma (Master Chief's mom) said, "There she goes"
and my Aunt said "Here she comes."
Angel Baby we love you so much. We
can't wait for the day that we can all be back together again. We are so
thankful for the blessings of the gospel and the knowledge of the plan of
salvation. It really is the plan of happiness.
We have a huge blessing
in our lives because of this experience. If we hadn't lost our Angel Baby we
never would have adopted when we did. We now have our sweet son Kermit. He
healed our broken hearts and filled our empty arms. He is such a ray of sunshine
in our lives. We have a beautiful little Girl, Miss Piggy. She is such a joy in
our lives and we have our suprise, Baby Girl. Baby Girl looks a lot like
Angel Baby. She's got the dark hair, the darker skin, the same eye lashes. It's
so neat to see the similarities. We wonder how Angel Baby's personality would have compared to Baby Girl or Miss Piggy even. Our family is so happy. We look forward to the day we can see our sweet daughter again and give her all the hugs and kisses we can't give her here on earth.