Sad Week

Last week was very sad. My friend whose daughter had cancer died on Thursday morning at 2:30 am. My friend's posts on facebook/the caringbridge website were very sad last week. At the beginning of the week she posted that her daughter had been sleeping since the weekend. Then there was a post about her temperature being down to 91, slowed heartbeat and congestion in her lungs. She posted on caringbridge within an hour of the little girl's passing that she died in my friend and her husband's bed. Apparently both parents held her hands as she took her last breaths and the little girl squeezed her daddy's fingers right before she took her last breath as if to let him know everything was okay. This was very, very sad. Though we were not close friends growing up, I went to school with her from kindergarten to high school graduation. I can not imagine what it is like to go through what they went through. I held my own babies tight all week long and cried many, many nights last week. I thought a lot about my friend and prayed for them often. I woke up many times during the night on several nights last week thinking about my friend. My own son came to my bed at 1:30 the night the little girl died and asked to sleep with me. I immediately thought of my friend and prayed for her as I let my son into my bed. In the morning I learned that the little girl died an hour after my own son came to my room. So sad to think that as I was sleeping with and holding my children (the baby was in the bed at that point too due to nursing), my friend was holding her youngest daughter for the last time and was up informing people of her daughter's death - posting on the caringbridge website about the girl's death within an hour of her passing. Her celebration of life service was Saturday. It was a beautiful service with many, many people there. There was a reception afterwards to visit with the family and there were many, many beautiful pictures of her daughter. Such a beautiful little girl. I hope never, ever to have to plan a funeral service for a child. A parent, grandparent, and spouse is something you know that eventually you will have to plan a funeral for. But for a child it should never, ever happen. I hope that faith will sustain my friend and her family through this difficult time. I hope this week will not bring any sad news. It is late and I should get some sleep before the baby wakes up to eat. Until later...
-Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night