On Saturday, October 10th Jeff and I were joined by our parents for our hospital’s Share and Remembrance walk. The weather was miserable, but about 100 people turned out to remember all of the little ones gone too soon. The morning included the walk, a balloon release, a prayer service and lunch. In addition to our parents, we walked with our friend Debbie and her kids, who were walking in memory of baby Sophie. Participating in the walk had some obvious emotional implications for our family, however there were some other emotional ties for me. For over 20 years, my family has attended and participated in a 5K race in memory of my grandmother, after whom our daughter is named. As most good things do, the race came to an end 2 years ago - but until then it had been held on Saturday morning of Columbus Day weekend. There is much irony in my family now reserving this morning for ‘Gracie’s Walk’ instead of Grace’s Run......
On Thursday, October 15th we visited Gracie’s grave for our first look at her marker. We had planned to take a special candle to leave with her for the evening, but we decided against this because of snow and rain. We took pink and blue balloons – some to release and some to leave – and two small pumpkins for Halloween. We had a previous obligation for the evening, but we took our candle with us to burn at 7pm as part of the Wave of Light. I was in awe of how many of our friends and family also burned candles in Gracie’s honor and memory – I can only hope that they will continue to do so each year so we can keep the memory of our little peanut alive.
A sign or just dumb luck? When I ordered Gracie's balloons for the cemetery, I was told that with regular helium they would last about 12 hours. When I told her that they were going to be outside, that time estimate was cut in half (due to cold air, rain and snow). When my father went to the cemetery on Friday to pick up the wilted and withered balloons, he found them still full of life and flying high. They flew for over 24 hours above Gracie's stone....
A sign or just dumb luck? When I ordered Gracie's balloons for the cemetery, I was told that with regular helium they would last about 12 hours. When I told her that they were going to be outside, that time estimate was cut in half (due to cold air, rain and snow). When my father went to the cemetery on Friday to pick up the wilted and withered balloons, he found them still full of life and flying high. They flew for over 24 hours above Gracie's stone....
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1 comment:
Gracie's stone is beautiful. I love the heart on the front. I can't believe the snow on the ground!! It is nice to have a day to remember, which really isn't much different from other days but it's a day we can all come togther.
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