Last night we attended our parish's 25th annual Celebration of Memories. It is a celebration of the lives and memories of those that had passed away this year. We actually didn't just attend, but were participants in this celebration. Many parishioners, and even some of the Priests, approached us and were confused as to why we were in line holding a candle. I had anticipated this reaction.
On September 11, 2014, the heart of the baby still in the my wife's womb, stopped beating. Abby was just about 9 weeks into her pregnancy when we miscarried our dear Hannah. We had already begun planning how we would tell everyone the news. Our immediate families were already celebrating the little miracle that was Hannah. We even started discussing who were going to be the Godparents. But God had other plans. Our dear Hannah decided that she wanted to be with her Heavenly Mother and Father instead.
During the homily of the mass, Fr. Pius revealed that he changed the Gospel of the Mass and instead read the story of The Empty Tomb. He wanted to reveal that when Mary Magdala went to the tomb of Jesus, it was not only the tomb that was empty, but also a piece of her heart. This is because someone that was very important to her was now gone, someone she loved. This is exactly how Abby and I have been feeling ever since Hannah left us. She is someone we had been fighting to meet for the past 5 years. She is someone that has held a place in our heart ever since we were married. But then Fr. Pius told us that we should not be focusing on the Empty Tomb, but the garden in heaven where we are reunited with our loved ones. I couldn't help but to imagine little Hannah running around in heaven playing in the grass and maybe chasing butterflies (yeah they have butterflies in heaven). This made me smile.
Our daughter's name displayed in our church for all to see and acknowledge how loved she is.
Which leads me to the point of this post… striving for heaven. In the past I always knew that my job was to lead Abby to heaven and visa versa. But this Healing of Memories brings in new purpose… I want to make sure my wife gets to heaven so she can meet her daughter Hannah for the first time. I can only imagine how happy they both will be when they get to meet. When she finally gets to embrace our little angel. Oh and of course I would love to be there too reunited as a family.
But until that day, we know that we have a little angel in heaven praying for us.
My prayer is that all those couples that have suffered from a miscarriage strive to lead each other to heaven so that they too will be reunited in Heaven's garden with their little angels.
Sonograms taken during our 4 week and 8 week visit.
Our Lady of Sorrows Medal that Abby got engraved so that we could remember Hannah. Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!