Hailey's Passing

Written January 8, 2010 for Hailey's Memorial Service January 9, 2010

We knew because of Hailey’s disorder that we wouldn’t have much time with her. When she was born it seemed like she could pass at any minute, and then day by day she fought and fought and grew stronger and stronger. Eventually we celebrated her 1 week birthday in the hospital. Time continued to pass and she had good days and bad days. The entire time we knew that no matter how good she was doing or how many good days she had in a row, eventually there would come a time that we had to say goodbye to her. Thankfully we were able to bring our baby girl home. One week with her turned to two weeks, and then weeks turned to one month – what a miracle and a blessing from God.

Then we were able to celebrate 5 weeks with her… and that’s when God decided it was time for Hailey to come home to be with Him. Hailey got a fever on her 5 week birthday, but she didn’t show any outward signs of being sick. She was a fighter until the very end. The next day, January 6, God decided to call her home. That morning we woke up to find that Hailey had passed peacefully while we were all sleeping.

We are devastated to lose our darling baby girl, but because of our faith in God and Jesus Christ, we can find hope and even joy during this difficult time. We know that God created Hailey with Trisomy 18 for a reason – even if we don’t necessarily understand His plan. We also know that Hailey’s passing was Jesus calling her home to be with Him in Heaven --and Jesus and her are “dancing” in heaven right now as one of our friends reminded us… We find comfort in knowing Hailey is with her heavenly Father and that she no longer suffers or lives with any of her disabilities or injuries or illnesses as a result of her Trisomy 18 and that she has been made perfect in Heaven.

…so while we will miss her and all the wonderful things about her, today we don’t mourn the loss of a life cut too short nor are we angry with God, we celebrate the life of our amazing daughter and the miraculous 36 days she lived and we remember the joy she brought to our life while she was here… We will always remember her for the strength and courage she showed in such a dark situation. She truly lived a life that was worthy of her name which means “heroine” or “courageous.”

While we will miss holding her and cradling her in our arms and a million other things, we know that we just have to wait and we will hold her again in Heaven.