The Kindness of Strangers

If you were to sign on to the Trisomy18.org website and visit the discussion board, you would see a community of women who are on the same journey that my family and I are on. I am amazed at that community of women who may only know each other by screen names, yet they offer advice, comfort, prayers, tears, and hope. . .and sometimes, gifts.

I received a gift from Shannon, a woman I met because of this website's discussion board. Shannon has made a ministry out of creating little bracelets with the child's name on it and sending these bracelets to the mothers of children with conditions such as Trisomy 18. She's taken it one step further by taking a photograph of the bracelet and posting it on her blog. You can see Lily's bracelet by visiting http://whyamihereanyway.blogspot.com/. Scroll down to the February 8 post.

But that's not all. Shannon also sent a little hair bow, a preemie outfit, and a CD with some beautiful songs on it that could send the hardest of hearts into a crying fit. I received the CD today, so I listened to some of it on the way to the grocery store and back. When I got in the house, Dave told me that my nose was red and asked if it was cold outside. No, it was the CD. There's just something about driving down the road by yourself, listening whole-heartedly to music. If only it had been late at night down some country road with no cars around. Now that would have been more than this girl's heart could take. Powerful.

It's not that I'm expecting gifts. Actually, it's pretty much the opposite. It's just that I am deeply touched by the thought of the gift. It is such a sweet sentiment, but more than that, it is a gift of hope. That maybe, just maybe, Lily will get to experience wearing the bracelet, the outfit, the bow. She will look beautiful in them. Thank you, Shannon.