It's my niece's birthday today.
She would've been 4.
Clara passed away November 7th of last year. She was diagnosed with High Risk Stage 4 Neuroblastoma (a childhood cancer) when she was 2 1/2 and struggled an unbelievable battle before her time was over. Clara and her family spent many months in hospitals, living hours away from home, and still to this day remain the strongest family I know. You can read about Clara's journey HERE. It is one of the most touching and beautiful blogs I know of. I think everyone goes away from their blog feeling a sense of hope and peace.
For Christmas my brothers and sisters draw names and this year my husband and I had Brian and Natasha's name (Clara's parents and my brother). I wanted to do something special since it had only been 6 weeks since Clara had passed. This is what I came up with...
As my mom was leaving the funeral home one day she looked in the sky to see one tiny leaf hanging on for dear life to the tree branch. She said it reminded her so much of Clara, hanging on until she just couldn't anymore. I remember everyday for months waking up wondering if today would be the day. Sweet little Clara didn't want to leave her family. When printing the funeral programs Natasha found the perfect tree that represented Clara in a perfect way...
This tree had been such a symbol of Clara that I decided to turn it into something permanent for their home. Today, in honor of Clara I'm sharing with you
"Clara's Tree"
Happy Birthday sweet girl!
We all miss you and love you so much, but we know you're in a better place, free from all your pain and suffering. I hope you're spending your birthday on the swings, eating pink cupcakes and chewing pink bubblegum. Happy Birthday Clara Bear.
-Ashley
It breaks my heart that any parent should lose their child to cancer. Seriously, I will always wonder to God's purpose in that.
ReplyDeletei am not able to click on the link to read her story..can you help?
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