Today was our dear Sydney’s birthday. She would have been 13 years old today. It is hard to imagine so much time has passed without her when I remember her birth as if it was yesterday.Today, our loving and supportive family gathered as they have done every March 8 for the past 13 years to write notes to Sydney on index cards to attach to balloons which we release to Heaven on her special day.
All day today, as we went about our blessed “normal” activities, I kept catching glimpses of my three healthy, happy, children with their strong, healthy hearts and I kept sending up small prayers of thanks for these amazing creatures that God has entrusted to us.On this day, even more than every other day of the year, I pause to remember just how lucky we are to have the amazing privilege of raising children. It doesn’t matter what grades they get in school, whether they make the team, or even if they are the most popular. What matters is that they are happily engaged in doing things they love with people they cherish and that they are kind and do their parts to make the world a better place. From a parent who has had to face the most unimaginable loss, that, my friends, is what really matters.