Our beloved\u00a0granddaughter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two years ago today, our first grandchild was born in Orlando, Florida.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was born in a wing of a local Orlando hospital that had been built with generous Disney donations, and the hospital\u2019s public spaces were decorated everywhere with characters from Disney cartoons. \u00a0As it rapidly became obvious that Lena\u00a0would not, and could not, survive, I became acutely\u00a0aware of how much I had looked forward to one day introducing her to those characters via beloved\u00a0movies and in the Disney theme parks. \u00a0I was surprised. \u00a0I grew up essentially an only child, with just a ten-year-older half brother; I haven\u2019t been around little kids a lot, and I\u2019m not especially good with them. \u00a0I hadn\u2019t even\u00a0realized that I was eagerly anticipating and imagining such a privilege.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
These days were, by a considerable distance, some of the worst of our lives. \u00a0If we could have spared our son and his wife this terrible grief, we would gladly have done so. \u00a0As it was, there was essentially nothing that we could do to help them or to take the burden from them, and that inability to help made the pain even deeper. \u00a0To watch our children in pain, to see them\u00a0go from joyful anticipation to stunning loss was truly agonizing.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
But time passes, and wounds heal. \u00a0Not completely, but more or less.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lena\u2019s\u00a0stay with us was so very brief that I\u2019ve feared that I might forget her. \u00a0So, every time I pick up my cell phone, I see a photograph of Lena \u2014 tiny, at rest, and, to\u00a0outward appearances, physically perfect.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve also vowed to mark her birthday each year, and part of the way I\u2019ve chosen to do that has been to blog about her.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I won\u2019t allow her to have\u00a0passed\u00a0unnoticed. \u00a0Most of all, I myself\u00a0refuse to\u00a0forget her. \u00a0I am her grandfather. \u00a0I will miss her and I will mourn her until, someday, I meet her again.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here is the column that I published in the Deseret News<\/em> when she died:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.deseretnews.com\/article\/865605395\/Through-cloud-and-sunshine-Lord.html?pg=all<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Posted from Amsterdam, The Netherlands<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Two years ago today, our first grandchild was born in Orlando, Florida. \u00a0 She was born in a wing of a local Orlando hospital that had been built with generous Disney donations, and the hospital\u2019s public spaces were decorated everywhere with characters from Disney cartoons. \u00a0As it rapidly became obvious that Lena\u00a0would not, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>