More Saddness

I found out on Saturday night that my cousin Jason and his wife Christine lost their little girl Alaina. She was born on February 12 and passed away on the 15th after open heart surgery. This was their 5th child, and first girl. I can't imagine what they are feeling through this.

I know for myself this is pretty overwhelming, and then compound that with attending the Thomas' funeral last Monday and just recently having my sweet little boy. I am typically either feeling pretty numb, or crying because of the heartache I know these two couples and their families are experiencing from losing their precious babies. If any of you from these families are reading this please know my thoughts and prayers are with you all.

One other thing that has been on my mind is from a comment overheard from a friend who sat behind me at little Laird's funeral. A young adult, I am assuming they are single with no children, said that it was better for the parents that they only spent 6 days with their baby. Indicating that the longer you are with the children the harder it is to have them pass on. This has kept rolling through my mind, and I just wanted to share my thoughts on it. I believe that many types of love are ones that grow stronger and more intense as time goes by, such as with your spouse, friends, extended family, and maybe even siblings. But I believe that a parent's love for a child does not. That may seem strange at first, but I really feel that parents love their children so completely and selflessly from the moment they realize that they are going to be parents. Looking back I can say that I loved all of my children the same from the moment I knew I was pregnant with them as I do now. The loss of one of them would have been just as heartbreaking and overwhelming at any point in time. I do have more memories of them now, but I would miss them just as terribly without those memories. Also my relationship with each one of them has changed over time but my love for them has stayed constant.

I apologize if that was rambling, I just have such a hard time when I feel like a mother's or father's feelings are discounted because they only had their children for a short amount of time. Or when a woman miscarries, or experiences giving birth to a stillborn baby. These are all very trying and difficult times, and while some may not understand the love and heartache that goes along with these they are real and we need to be able to be sensitive to those experiencing the loss, however small or great we believe it to be.