A little less than three years ago, we unknowingly began a 12 month journey that changed our lives forever.
In September 2008, my father went into the hospital with kidney stone problems and never returned home. I was daddy’s little girl. He was retired my entire life and he was always there. The passing of my father rocked me to the core. I didn’t know how I was going to survive without him.
A couple months later, my great-aunt Christine passed away. I never knew my maternal grandmother so my “Baba Basho” stepped into that role. Her passing as the matriarch of the family marked the end of a generation.
A few days after Baba Basho’s passing, we found out that we were expecting our first child. After years of infertility, our dreams were finally coming true. We were going to be parents!
September 2009: 30 weeks later, the day after my baby shower I end up in the hospital and find out we lost our daughter. I delivered our daughter Makena Christine on my birthday and we spent an amazing 24 hours holding, rocking, and loving her. That one day with her was a gift beyond any we had ever received.
These experiences (amongst others), have given us a new resolve to do more with the time we have in our lives. We want to give Makena’s life meaning through our example and our experience. Though we aren’t entirely sure just how to do that, we do know that we want to take this opportunity to see if we can find some answers.
Sometimes the journey is ours to take. Sometimes the journey chooses us.
We hope you will come along on our Journey in search of travel, discovery, understanding, and healing.
I think we can all learn a little bit from each other in the process.
And so begins “The Next Journey” — Thanks for being a part of it.
I love you guys!!!!!
We love you too!
What a beautiful woman you are! My sister just lost a little girl during delivery and it was so meaningful to me to see your descriptiuon of yourself as “Mother of an Angel”. That is indeed what you are and my sister as well. I look forward to sharing that thought with her.
Enjoy your adventure. I look forward to sharing about this journey and will keep you and Darin in my prayers.
Many blessing on you both – Shawna
Shawna ~ My heart goes out to your sister, your brother-in-law, and their whole family. If your sister ever wants to talk to someone who has gone through a similar situation, please let her know I’m here (she can send me a private message through the connect page).
Your comment was a blessing for me. Thank you so much for sharing.
Love you, Sweet Friend! Praying for you both as you take this journey!
Thanks for the love and support. We love you too!
Thanks Natalie. I think she’s just now begining to open up to the idea of talking to others who understand her loss. I’ll let her know.
Any time!