𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗦 👋🏼 

When your child dies before you, it’s what you live for… the ‘little hellos’ that take you by surprise; the ‘little hellos’ that keep you going for the next hour, the next day, the next year without them…

It’s the ‘little hello’ from the red cardinal that swoops down in front of your car. It’s the ‘little hello’ from the water stain on the cement in the perfect shape of a heart. It’s the ‘little hello’ from a complete stranger that you randomly meet with a similar story.

Desperate for these ‘little hellos’; they become more crucial than even fresh air in your lungs. Each ‘little hello’ tides you over to the next, and then the next… until the years turn into decades, and that one sweet day arrives, where you get your ‘𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰’ … the one where your child is placed back in your arms, without a single goodbye to follow.

♥ Alexandria
… join me by #FallingRightSideUp ☝🏼

when life gets turned upside down 👇🏼

_______________

𝟬𝟰.𝟬𝟵.𝟮𝟬 – Today marks 4 years without you; 4 whole years of ‘little hellos’ from you, my Theodore; my fierce courageous warrior.

We were recently in Disney, and you knew my Mama heart was constantly thinking of you; not only imagining what your favorite characters would be, but what rides you would enjoy most. I said “𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦” under my breath a number of times, and there’s not a doubt in my mind that you “responded” with the most special ‘little hello’ on the very last night of our trip… It was dark, and we were getting ready to enter the final attraction of our trip, when randomly, another Mama with her “three children” came up to Arthur and I, insisting that we pick a balloon out of the four they were giving away… we graciously chose the blue Mickey balloon, but not before asking the reason behind this kind gesture… her response instantly brought me to tears:

She, too, should have had one more child standing with her in Hollywood Studios. Her son also passed away from a rare disease. And, out of the thousands upon thousands of people in the park that night, she chose ‘Arthur Theodore’, your namesake, to honor her late son’s memory… THAT was a pretty BIG ‘little hello’ I will never forget, Theodore. I love you more than I could ever truly express.