Happy Mother's Day

Today has been a day of joy and a day of tears. I smile because I think of my mother. She has taught me so much in my 26 years of life... how to love unconditionally, how to get just the right 'head scratch', how to worry, how to cherish every breath, and how to be strong in the face of fear. I smile because I think of my mother in law. She raised an amazing boy and then shared him with me, while accepting me in as part of her family.

But I also cry... because I think of my sweet baby Faith. She left us 3 months and 5 days ago. Although she is in God's hands now- I will always be her mommy. I wish I'd had the courage to walk up to the front of the church today when they said "All the mothers, please come get a gift from this table." Instead, I ran out the back door in tears. I feared the questions that would have arisen from my taking a gift from the "special table"... I feared having to answer the question of "How old is your child?"... At the same time- I want her to be remembered. I want people to know how much joy she brought to my and Josh's life in the short time she was with us. I want people to know how her passing brought me closer to God.

So- Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms out there- My mom, my mom in law, my charleston mom, first time moms, moms to be, all moms! Special prayer to moms like me who are thinking of their angel babies who are w God today...

"If you know someone who has lost a child...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."