Today was a day for our family to remember Rileigh and Adrienne. We have been doing this since before Brady was born, due to the idea we got from a co-worker at Kilmer Center who helped Keith through the loss of the girls by sharing her story. She lost a daughter about 20 years ago and has since had 3 boys who are almost grown. However, every single year, on the birthday of her daughter, the family stays home, no matter if it is a weekday or weekend, for celebration and rememberance. We jumped at this idea and have adopted it. We will continue to use March 8 as a family day for our family of 5.
We spent the morning in the warm temperatures outside playing with Brady. Around noon, we went out and got 6 pink balloons for our "release" later in the day. Just as we got home from our errands, Brady fell asleep so he missed the 2:06 release of the balloons. We saved 2 for him for when he wakes up though.
It's quite difficult for us to realize that it's been 3 years since Rileigh and Adrienne were born and left us. We remember the events like it was yesterday. Keith has had to fill Cynthia in on some of the fuzzy memories since she was given some heavy pain medications but we often talk about their birth and like to look back on the memories. While we lost so much on March 8, 2006, we are thankful for quite a few things and always will be.
We are thankful that the labor and delivery unit at Georgetown University Hospital had a digital camera for us to use. Otherwise, we would have no pictures of our daughters. While they are sad pictures for us to look at, it brings comfort to us to have them so we can forever see our daughters. We are thankful to the elder volunteers who made blankets and hats for babies who were born too soon. We have the hats that Rileigh and Adrienne wore after birth and the blanket they were wrapped in.
We are thankful for Kathi Kramer who provided so much spiritual support to us the day the girls were born and in the days and months following. She continues to be a great friend to us today and she checks in on us often. Last, we are thankful that Cynthia's mother was able to bear witness to the birth of our daughters, her first granddaughters. She provided so much support, especially to Keith, in such an uncertain time. We have never had to bury a family member before and she jumped on the phone in an instance and helped us figure out where Rileigh and Adrienne's final resting place would be.
Happy Birthday Rileigh and Adrienne. It pains us to not know what you would be like today but we are at peace to know that you are in wonderful hands. We know that you watch over us every day, protecting us even when we don't ask for protection. We love you and we miss you so much.
