A Papa, his heart, and (one of ) his grandgirls

Published by Josie on May 22, 2024

This photo breaks my heart every time I see it.

I took this picture two days before Maya needed her third open heart surgery to fix her AV Canal defect. She was born with only three chambers in her heart and only one valve instead of two, the tricuspid and mitral valve. Usually this CHD (congenital heart defect) only needs one surgery to repair the defect but my girl needed three….3 stinkin open heart surgeries before she was even 10 weeks old.

Seeing my baby suffer was unbearable.

Seeing her hooked up to lines, wires, monitors, and tubes that are keeping her alive was awful.

Letting someone take my baby from my arms and walk off to the operating room with her is a pain I cannot describe.

Seeing my parents potentially saying goodbye to their granddaughter they had only a few weeks with, was beyond heartbreaking.

But:

I want you to take a close look at this picture. Look at the little pink bracelet on my dad’s wrist. That bracelet, right there was for my girl. So even though they couldn’t do anything to help her, wearing these bracelets helped me.

How did it help my heart?

They helped me feel connected during the scariest time of my life.

They were a visual reminder that so many people were thinking of us, praying for us, sending love to us even when we were in a hospital room and the whole world kept spinning.

It was a true expression of love and support when I needed it the most.

It was a gift I didn’t know I needed.

Click here to send love to a complete stranger who is sitting in a hospital room, scared and alone. It might be a bright spot to a dark time.

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