--Frederick Buechner
You've been warned...this one's a tearjerker, but it does have a happy ending!
I don't usually post many personal stories, but I'm long overdue for an art journal page and this is on my mind.
My little niece would have been nine years old this month. This is the only picture we have of her looking at the camera with her eyes open. Within a few hours she was unconscious, never to open her eyes again.
She was a perfectly healthy baby, full term, but due to a tragedy during delivery (and a good dose of medical negligence) we lost her. The placenta ruptured and the baby lost 75% of her blood volume during the birth.
It's been a long hard road since then, trying to understand why, then trying to understand that I'll never know why, and learning to accept it. Just this year, after nine years, I am finally making peace with it.
Which makes my newest little niece's birth so sweet! I would not have the deep joy of seeing her healthy and strong had I not experienced the bitter contrast of her sister's tragedy. Now I never take life for granted and realize what a miracle life is.
