Dear Friends and Family,
First, I want to thank you for your love, support and prayers over the past three years, from my pregnancy with Hailey, while she was alive and fighting, and especially since she's been gone. It's hard to believe she would have turned 3 years old this December 1st. I am so very thankful for your support and to be able to celebrate her life on her birthday with another delivery of NICU care packages on behalf of Hailey's Hope with Project Sweet Peas.
We were blessed to spend Hailey's first Christmas with her, but this Christmas will be our 3rd without Hailey. It will be my first without my daughter and without my husband who will be spending his Christmas in Afghanistan. While I will have my son Isaac with me and be surrounded by friends and family, if you've ever lost a loved one you know, it will be hard having half of my little family missing.
Me with my husband and daughter on December 25, 2009
So this year it's time to do something special, and I think it's a great tradition for our family to begin especially as Hailey's brother, Isaac, grows up. My cousin had first shared this idea with me when we first lost Hailey, but life has gone by in a whirlwind and I'm just now being able to implement it.
You see we still feel the need to remember our daughter this Christmas. We have a pink stocking for her that we hang, but it's so hard to see it empty next to all the others. This is where you come in to literally help fill that emptiness.
All we ask is that sometime between now and Christmas, you commit a random act of kindness in Hailey's memory. When you do it, think of Hailey and dedicate your act of kindness to her. You can even leave a note saying, “This random act of kindness was done in memory of Hailey Marie," but you don’t have to. Please write down your act of kindness and send it to me through e-mail (at k.vanderlip@gmail.com) and put “Hailey's Christmas Project” in the subject line or slip a note into your Christmas cards to us. I won't read it. I will put all the emails printed and notes in her stocking. Then, on Christmas morning, we will open up all the notes and read them - the emails will be great for me to forward to Josh so he can "open" them on Christmas too. Feel free to share this request with others, but even if only a few of you do this, we will have a really beautiful thing to share on Christmas in our daughter's memory and someone else (the recipient of your kindness) will benefit by a true example of the spirit of Christmas and sharing Christ's love. I will pray that all of us will be struck by an inspiring idea close to our hearts that will allow Hailey's life to continue to have a positive affect on the lives of others, you all and the recipients of your kind act.
Thank you in advance for your participation and continued love and support,
Krissy, Josh, & Isaac
For idea’s and inspiration for random acts of kindness, visit http://www.missfoundation.org/kindness/ideas.html
To donate to Hailey's Hope with Project Sweet Peas, visit http://projectsweetpeas.com/index.php/haileyshope
