Ann Heflin Memorial Dedication

Well, I'm having trouble getting the hang of this whole insert picture thing. The feature is not quite as user-friendly as I expected, and I don't want to start all the way over, so I hope you can figure things out, even though the pictures are out of order.








These plaques adorn each bassinet. The wording was decided on collectively by Dad, Karis, Erin, Jacob and me, through mass emailing, forwarding, deleting, editing, and responding. We think it clearly represents Mom's feelings about each new life.

The whole Heflin gang shared a very special moment at St. Francis on Thursday, with a memorial dedication in honor of my mom. Upon her death, we had set up memorial donations to the O.B. dept. This money helped purchase new oak bassinet carts (I think 9 of them), in which each baby born at St. Francis for years to come will be nestled for their first few days of life. These bassinets will be in first pictures; will be gazed upon in the first glances from other Grammies, seeing their new grandbabies for the first time; will be peeked into by curious eyes of older brothers and sisters; and will touched and handled by so many people who worked with Mom and held a special place in her heart. It seemed only fitting.

Thanks to all those who helped get everything organized, and for the beautiful words of kindness and prayer in memory of Mom.

I found myself in tears on the way home from Columbia today. One thing, among many, that I have not gotten used to since my mom died, is the sudden onset of sadness. It seems to come out of nowhere. I'm not even sure what triggered it today. I think it started with Brian being on the phone with his mom, then me thinking of how great my dad is. Dad spent the earlier part of the day with Rachel and Amberlea, then after they went to their dad's, he spent the evening with Tye, before having all three kids back at our house until we got home around 9:30. I was just driving and thinking about how selfless so many have been in our personal battle, and how we couldn't do this without Brian's parents and my dad. I used to think we couldn't do this without my mom either. Then a flutter through my mind made me think of when my mom used to mention frequently how much she missed Grandma and Grandpa, and I was overwhelmed with realizing how she must have felt. It is times like today that I really miss my mom.

We have a lot on our plate. Brian is doing well. I will try to post tomorrow; for now, I have so much to say that I don't know where to start. His appts. today were as expected, and they are all pleased with his progress. We have another option or two to consider before deciding the next phase of treatment, and it is proving to be a very difficult decision, one that is going to be very hard on Brian. We just don't know what road to take. We pray that God will show us the way.

Jenni