Perfect Moment Monday: Wonderful

by Kathy on October 29, 2012 · 10 comments

in Abby, Background, Gratitude, Journey, Loss, Molly, Perfect Moments, Sean, Siblings, Time

It’s the last Monday of the month which means its time to share our Perfect Moments from October with Lori from Write Mind Open Heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was waiting in our car, in the pick up line at Abby’s preschool. I had just rolled down the driver’s side window when I made eye contact with the Assistant Director of the school. She was calling out names of kids that were being picked up into her walkie-talkie so the teachers bringing the kids outside knew who was next.

We made small talk, as we often do at pick up time. Then she told me about how she had taken the three-year old class, which Abby is in, out for a walk that day, to practice for the upcoming Halloween costume parade. She mentioned how much Abby seemed to enjoy the walk and being outside on such a nice day.

Then she paused and said,

“We can’t believe she is here.

We love having her.

What a wonderful…everything!”

I said thank you and tried not to get choked up. I knew that she was referring to what has happened with our family since Sean was a student there. After our brief conversation I reflected on our journey to expand our family while I waited in the pick up line for Abby to be brought out to me.

Sean was in the four-year old preschool classroom when we found out we were expecting Molly, throughout our pregnancy and after she was born and died in April 2008. The teachers and staff there were incredibly compassionate with and supportive of us, especially Sean.

The following year, while Sean was in Junior Kindergarten there, they rejoiced with us when we found out that Abby was on the way. She was born a few months after Sean graduated from the preschool, not long after he began Kindergarten at a Chicago Public School in September 2009.

We always knew that if we were blessed and lucky enough to have another child that we would send them to the same preschool where Sean went. It is awesome and bittersweet that Abby is old enough to be a student there now.

I appreciate how kind the teachers and staff are to Abby. Many of them know what we went through to have another child and to give Sean a living sibling. So it means a lot when they make comments like the Assistant Director did, as it reminds me we aren’t the only ones who remember what happened and are grateful for our wonderful Abby.

Sometimes I look at Abby and I can’t believe she is here either. It is surreal to realize that she is now three, our son is nine and that it has been four and half years since our Molly was born and died. Though I miss our first daughter, our forever baby girl, so much, I am also very aware of the “wonderful…everything” in our life today and this month’s perfect moment helps me to honor that.

I will leave you with a couple of recent pictures that I took of Abby and Sean, capturing these were also perfect moments this month:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lori from Write Mind Open Heart says that “Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between.” I love the idea of being mindful of and blogging about perfect moments. Over the years I have often used my blog more to write about things I am struggling with and though I know that is valid and important for me at times, I appreciate the idea of being intentional about also sharing the simple and very special moments in our lives. Many thanks to Lori for this wonderful opportunity to focus on what is right in our life, instead of what is wrong. 

Click here to read about and comment on more Perfect Moments (there are links to others’ posts at the bottom of Lori’s blog entry) and/or add a link to one of your own. Thank you for reading. I hope that you have a wonderful week and that you are aware of, as well as able to notice, many perfect moments in your own lives.

{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Mud Hut Mama October 29, 2012 at 10:12 am

“Wonderful…everything!” I love this Kathy. So happy that you have so many supportive and compassionate people around you and especially since these are the people teaching your daughter. Really beautiful photos of Abby and Sean too.
Mud Hut Mama recently posted..Cabbage Patch Kids and a Perfect MomentMy Profile

Reply

2 Sandy October 29, 2012 at 10:17 am

What a moving story! It’s so nice to have that kind of support. Your kids are so beautiful, and I’m so sorry for your loss. I, too, feel like my daughter is a miracle. She and my son are 3 1/2 years apart and in between the two I had many miscarriages. Someday I will have to write about the losses (I just stopped blogging for long periods of time). Sometimes I look at her and think, “How did you get here?”
Sandy recently posted..Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo: Creating an Author ProfileMy Profile

Reply

3 Lori Lavender Luz October 29, 2012 at 2:08 pm

You have such breathtakingly gorgeous children. I am so happy that the Assistant Director remembers Molly with you, and honors her by remembering.

Perfect (if a little bittersweet).
Lori Lavender Luz recently posted..Perfect Moment Monday: Hoe downMy Profile

Reply

4 April October 29, 2012 at 2:15 pm

I’m glad you found such a great preschool with support already waiting for you before you desperately needed it. The Assistant Director sounds amazing.
April recently posted..Perfect Moment Monday: RestraintMy Profile

Reply

5 Michelle@Gotchababy October 29, 2012 at 8:27 pm

Sweet sweet sweet. Schools that feel like family can’t be beat.
Michelle@Gotchababy recently posted..Perfect Moment Monday: Instant FriendsMy Profile

Reply

6 Suzy October 30, 2012 at 2:57 pm

This is such a sweet story. I love that the teacher reached out to you in such a special way.
Suzy recently posted..Brainz, Hello Kitty and a PigMy Profile

Reply

7 Jjiraffe October 31, 2012 at 2:41 am

Sounds like such a lovely and sensitive school. I love your pictures!!

Reply

8 Addison November 2, 2012 at 3:06 pm

Thanks for sharing this; I’m touched by the sensitivity that the Assistant Director showed, and that you were able to keep that joy with you. You have beautiful children. God bless you!
Addison recently posted..Where Are All the Other Tiggers? Adoption Issues in Disney’s The Tigger MovieMy Profile

Reply

9 Laura November 4, 2012 at 7:30 pm

That picture is great.

Its nice to be surrounded by people like that who really seem to care and they all mean well, however, sometimes – been a really private person I really wish people wouldnt talk about such things with me. I know that might be an exception rather than the rule and for many people “a problem shared is a problem halved…” but I feel that such things are really personal to me and I dont like them discussed so openly!
Laura recently posted..Leeds escortsMy Profile

Reply

10 Amy November 6, 2012 at 10:43 am

Beautiful moment. I really relate to that feeling of strong emotion to know that someone, other than your family, is thinking of your baby girl and rejoicing or grieving with or for you. There is a family from school/church that for two years now, on Nov. 2, without a word, leaves a comfort meal at my car. I am always honored that she is remembering Madeline’s life and our forever love for her.

Reply

Leave a Comment

CommentLuv badge

Previous post:

Next post: