Six. Six years. Today marks six years since I gave birth to my first baby, my sweet Hope Noelle. It’s hard to believe 6 years really have passed since we realized that the precious baby girl we had grown to love and know as our first born, that I carried for months in my womb, really wasn’t coming home with us. Six years. Six years since I saw her face, since I held her in my arms, since her tiny ...heart stopped beating. Six years since we spent one hour with her as her parents here on Earth. But in that hour and in the weeks leading up to her birth and untimely her death, Hope changed me to my core. She didn't even weigh one pound but we got one hour. Sixty minutes. 3,600 seconds. And in that hour, she taught me what love really is… when you love someone without judgment and prejudices. She taught me that being different is ok. She taught me unconditional love. I am thankful that my heart aches because I miss her, not because I watch her in pain. I am so thankful that she isn’t here suffering. I know in my soul that she is in Heaven running and playing. I pray that she is having so much fun that her time there only seems like seconds without her Daddy and I there and when the time comes many years from now when we will see her again, I pray she won’t even have noticed all the years that have passed… that she will just look over her shoulder and we will be there. So I ask of you to just take one hour. Just one hour. Take one hour out of your day today and spend it with your children. Listen to them, tell them you love them, and hug them a little tighter. You cannot imagine how fast that hour will pass. Happy sixth birthday Hope Noelle. You are missed beyond measure.
