Angel Day #6

Tomorrow will be 6 years from when Emily passed away. I have had so many different thoughts going through my head the past few weeks. This year has honestly been one of the hardest as far as dealing with my emotions losing Emily, probably since the first year after her death. That year takes the cake! But for today, at least, I am in a good place. 

One of the things that always goes through my head as we look through Emily's box of things in the days before her angel day (we usually do it for family night)  is how grateful I am for all the people who expressed their love and support to us, by attending the funeral, sending cards, sending us things to help us remember Emily, and crying and missing Emily with us.  We were surrounded by wonderful people who loved Emily, and it meant and still means a lot to me. 

People have often said they don't know what to say, or what to do, when someone dies. I still remember one sister at church, our first Sunday back after burying Emily in Washington, who just put her arms around me and said, "I love you, Camille." It was perfect. And she didn't say anything else. Some other friends would tell me how much they missed Emily, too. And would cry with me.  When we moved to oregon I had one person who when they found out about Emily said, "I'm sorry, I just want to give you a hug." And she did and it was great!  Last year I had one friend offer to come over and look at Emily's things with me, even though she didn't know Emily.  I had another friend who told me she loves to hear about Emily and would be happy to talk about her anytime. I so appreciated that!  My sister is coming tomorrow, just to hang out with me so I'm not by myself. It's been six years but it means a lot that she would offer to spend her time with me. 

These are a few pictures from going through her box. 

This is a lot of her sunbeam class; she got to go to part of their preschool. 

Grant wanted to try on Emily's AFO's

She had really cute sunglasses

The kids love trying on her cpap mask; they have to do it every year.

I wrote this letter to Emily just before her first birthday, at my first chromosome 18 conference that I attended. I love my little girl and miss her every day. And I am also grateful for how my life has continued to move forward; I truly feel blessed.