Thankful

Yesterday I spent my day overwhelmed with gratitude for the gift of my oldest girl.  Gianna turned 7, and the day brought back a flood of emotions regarding her birth and the gift of life.  Gianna was our rainbow baby, a bright colorful reminder of God’s greatness in an otherwise dark and stormy time. Born after the death of our first daughter Therese, Gianna’s birth was filled with tears of gratitude, not sorrow, and with the sound of an infant’s cry, not silence.  The moment I held her very alive little body in my arms I knew my heart would love again, perhaps even more strongly than it ever had before.  A rose tossed from heaven, she brought sweetness to our lives.

And 7 years later that sweetness continues.

I sometimes wonder if I was gifted with a particularly sweet and soft baby girl because that is exactly what my heart needed after Therese. There is nothing about me that is sweet or soft, and Mr. Red isn’t exactly a softie either!  Our other children do not share Gianna’s disposition, and so I go on thinking that her sweetness is a special gift from our Therese.

We prayed for our baby’s intercession, and the intercession of St. Therese and St. Gianna.  I asked specifically for a healthy baby girl. St. Therese always said she would spend her time in heaven showering the earth with roses.  And our Gianna Rose is one of them.