Life can change with a breath of air. I know. I’ve had the unforgettable experience of watching it happen. For four days we had to slowly and painfully watch life drain out of our four year old baby girl. That’s how I remember the last few days with my daughter. The nurse quietly explained to … Continue reading Grief Week
Dear Olivia, I am reminded of you through everything I do. Sometimes it’s really hard for me to sit through a presentation or meeting knowing the subject of the meeting would have impacted your quality of life. A career in disability rights isn’t always easy. Our family lives, breaths and believes in everything that we … Continue reading Silence
Dear Olivia, The end of the school year is approaching and your friends are getting ready to transition to kindergarten. I feel like I'm approaching the true goodbye time to your school team. It's been nice having your classroom things intact. It's made us all feel like part of you is still with the class. … Continue reading Bye, Bye Preschool
Dear Olivia, You're constantly on my mind and forever in my heart. I've been slowly preparing for our Spring Break vacation and am having a difficult time finding the motivation to get excited about it. Twice this week I completely blanked that you were gone and started getting you ready for vacation too. While going … Continue reading Another Week, Another Month
Dear Olivia, Using the phrase "I miss you" seems so insignifcantly meaningless compared to the way I really feel. Some days are easier than others and everyone says that is normal, but when it hurts, it hurts really, really bad. That's the part that few truly understand. Staying busy at work continues to help and … Continue reading This Road Sucks
Dear Olivia, I'm really not all that surprised when out of the blue people share with me how much they love and miss you. At first I thought no one could miss you as much as I do and that it was strange that people would tell me how often they think of you, but … Continue reading Livy Love
Dear Olivia, I'm still sending thank you cards to all the people in our lives who have gone out of their way to be here for our family. I send at least five cards a week. Some include a Livy memory bracelets. Others have a brief but thoughtful note inside. Your dad gave memory bracelets … Continue reading Friends Forver
Dear Olivia, I'm on my sixth audiobook of the year. Can you believe it? I went from listening to upbeat happy music during my 2 hour commute, to a wide variety of non-fiction and fiction stories. Everything I've read has reminded me of you. First it was the baby who died in "Small Great Things." … Continue reading Forever On My Mind
Dear Olivia, When I hear you breathing like that it makes me feel like I'm getting the wind knocked out of me over and over again. I can't go back to sleep when I hear it and then I just lay in bed questioning what I could have done differently. It's a vicious cycle and … Continue reading What I Didn’t Hear
Dear Livy 