May 8, 2018 – What an amazing celebration day we had in honor of our baby girl. I wanted to share a few pictures from our day and thank all of you for your prayers for our family. We were lifted up by your prayers and we had such a beautiful time remembering Liliana’s birth day and all of the love that surrounded her.
After attending morning mass in Liliana’s memory, my family went to the hospital for the gifting ceremony of the sleep recliner to the NICU. There were several nurses and hospital staff present for the ceremony and I was thrilled to see the nurse who influenced me to bring my girls to the hospital the night of Liliana’s birth and meet their baby sister. Our hospice family was there too just like they were there through our diagnosis, pregnancy and delivery.
I got to speak about our experience and share Liliana with everyone there. There was laughter, tears, hugs and joy. The staff was so gracious and shared how moved they were with learning of our family and Liliana’s story. It was nice to be able to relive our experience in a more joyful way and thank the nursing staff who were a blessing to me in my darkest hours. The morning started off cloudy, but by the time we walked out of the hospital, the sun was shining bright. Thank you baby.
After the hospital visit, we had a nice lunch with my family and then just the four of us went to our special place for our balloon release and cake. I have video of my girls singing happy birthday to Liliana. They bought little gifts that we left at her monument, along with the balloons and flowers. Perhaps you need to be bereaved parents to appreciate this, but her monument was a beautiful and festive arrangement that warmed my heart to see.
And finally, that evening we were able to watch her videos from her birth and look at all of our pictures. Even though there were plenty of tears, I was able to watch most with a smile on my face.
It was a day of joy. There was a time last year that I never would have thought I would be able to say that about Liliana’s one-year anniversary, but God showed me the path. Thank you all for journeying with me. Thank you for your prayers and your words of encouragement and strength. You may not be able to see Liliana in the pictures, but I hope you can feel the love and see the joy that she has brought into our lives.
p.s. I also included a couple of pictures from two recent 5K walks that my husband’s family did in Seattle and that I did locally. My in-laws did the walk in honor of Liliana the week of her anniversary. It was a beautiful way for them to remember our girl and show their love. I loved the ‘Team Liliana’ shirts they got. Remembering Liliana and acknowledging her life in heart-felt ways like these are the greatest gifts I can receive (they are also the ones who sent the gorgeous lilies pictured above). Muchas gracias y los quiero a todos!
Once I came up for air after all of Liliana’s anniversary planning, I realized that a walk in her memory would be a beautiful way for us to celebrate her birth every year. Thankfully, my dear friend walks in the March of Dimes 5K each year for her daughter who was born premature (but is a happy, healthy 5 year old today) and we joined her family on a beautiful warm sunny day in honor of our girls this past weekend. The timing was perfect. She had a sign made up for Liliana and I was very moved when I saw it on our walk. We will for sure be walking for Liliana next year. At the start of the walk, I snapped this quick photo below of my daughter who ended up walking 95% of the way. Another great day to honor my baby girl.
