Kye is a Gift

After hearing messages the past few days about being kind and about overcoming the world, I thought of my friend, Kye.  She is such an incredible example of kindness, compassion, and overcoming obstacles.  She's the sort of person that after being around her, you come away feeling better about yourself.  She handles some pretty challenging chapters in life with humility, empathy, and patience.  I admire her greatly.  I asked her once how she continues to have such a patient and positive attitude.  She regards life as a gift.  Truly.  She not only sees the glass half full, she notices how clear the glass is, and how delicious the water looks.  And she is a Master at Public Health, too.  She's an angel!

#101DaysofAngels

Our Prophet Dear

I loved listening to the messages from this LDS General Conference.  I came away knowing that I have a loving Heavenly Father who knows me, and knows what I can become.  I want to study the Book of Mormon more intently.  I have come to know of its truthfulness and divinity.

I love our Prophet.  He instructed us to be kind.  I'm going to try harder at that, too.  Especially when I'm driving and it's easy to see that others on the road don't know how to drive as well as I do.  :)

President Monson, you are truly an angel.

101DaysofAngels

An Unknown Angel

Yesterday we went to see the new movie, Beauty and the Beast.  After the show was over, people trickled out, but I just had to stay to the end of Celine Dion's song (I'm quite a fan).   By that time, there were just a handful of other people in the theater.  As I walked down the stairs toward the exit, I came upon a woman helping another woman up and out of her seat.  She stood her up for a few moments, and helped her into her wheelchair.  It seemed like quite a process. It also seemed like she had done it many a time before.  On the way out, they stopped at the restroom, and the procedure of helping the woman began all over again.  I didn't know these two women.  The one in the wheel chair had very little expression, but the woman helping her was so tender as she lifted, steadied, set down, straightened, and pushed her wheelchair along.  She spoke gently to her and I wondered what their relationship could be.  It didn't really matter if they were sisters, friends, cousins, or even visiting teachers; it was evident there was love there.

To you, who brought that sweet woman to the movie and cared for her so kindly on Friday afternoon, from what I observed in those few moments, you epitomize what I heard today and last week in the General Conference sessions.  Thank you for showing me such a lovely example of charity.

You are an angel!

101DaysofAngels

My Golden Boy

Today, March 31st, is our son Nick's 31st birthday.  I think they call that "the golden birthday."  He has pretty much been a treasure from the day he was born.  Only 30 minutes of labor?  Who does that for his mom her first time around?  He has always been so loving and considerate.

 When he was young, he wanted to produce and direct a little play called "Phantom of the Opera" for the neighborhood, and he called his grandmother to ask her if she had any extra chandeliers laying around.   He has kept us entertained from early on.

I love watching Nick as a husband and father.  I love his adorable wife and children!

I love that he, like his father, loves to learn, and that he is not afraid to try new things, like getting an MBA from Duke.  He has always been teachable and tender.  I hope that continues for the next 31 years and beyond.  Oh, how I love this firstborn of ours!

101DaysofAngels

My Angel Amy

This picture reflects just how things were back then; little sister Amy about to get a kiss from older brother Nicholas, showing the special bond they continue to have.  Emily's mortal body is in the background, with Amy looking up toward the heavens, which she often did as a baby.  More so, in fact, than I noticed with any of my other children.  And me trying to smile--flooded with feelings of sadness, but happiness too, all at the same time.

Today's Angel is easy, but difficult to describe in a few short words what this girl means to me.  Amy and her twin sister Emily came into the world 28 years ago.  Emily stayed just one day, but has been Amy's Guardian Angel ever since.  During the intense feelings of pain and happiness that come with losing a twin baby, Amy has brought such joy.  She is amazingly thoughtful, keeps me laughing, and shows unconditional love.  I love her more with every passing season.  We are forever grateful that a loving Father kept our sort-of empty arms and our hearts filled with this wonderful girl.

A few days ago, after I had experienced a particularly rough few weeks, Amy brought me a "Sunshine Basket."  It was filled with all things yellow.  My favorite color!

What a sweetheart.  I immediately felt like I wanted to share some sunshine with somebody else.  So I did.  See what you started, Amy?

Amy continues to be my Sunshine.  She brings light to others, just as if she had a halo around her.  Oh how I love and adore this daughter of ours!

101DaysofAngels

Conquering Ourselves

Sir Edmund Hillary had a dream.

What he did then was different than what many of us do.  He turned that dream into a goal.  And he conquered, in 1953.  Below is a quote that has always been one of my very favorites, and has encouraged me so many times I can't count.

I like to think about Emily and Eric having the pleasure of listening to his tales in heaven.  I know I look forward to hearing them someday.

You're #17, Sir.

#101DaysofAngels

Charlie and Rosie, Super Heroes

Today's Angel is little Charlie Mahon.  He and his twin sister were born just six months ago.  Stories of twins especially tug at my heart, particularly when one of the twins doesn't get to stay on earth for very long.  There is a very special bond between twins, and I don't think death changes that.  My sweet twin daughter, Amy, introduced me to this wonderful family, and they will be dove releasers at the 13th annual Running with Angels 5K this year on May 20th.

Here is the story of the Mahon family, as told by Mama Mandy:

Things I want most in my life always take a lot longer than I imagined they would.  Which makes me appreciate them so much more.  I met the love of my life Richard when I was 30.  We met online and when we met in person, which took a while since he lived in England at the time, we both knew we were meant for each other.   A few months into our marriage we knew that we wanted to have a family.  We did get pregnant but quickly learned that the HCG levels were going down and I miscarried.  This was very difficult for our family but we felt hopeful that I was able to get pregnant.  After trying for a few years we decided to look into fertility treatment.  We soon found out that I have PCOS and don’t ovulate on my own.  We started the fertility treatment of Clomid, HCG Trigger shot and Progesterone and on our fifth attempt we found out that I was PREGNANT!!  We were so excited we could hardly stand it.  

A few months into the pregnancy we found out that we were having Twins!  We felt incredibly blessed since this pregnancy was not easy on me being 37 and overweight I only had to do it once.  Then we found out that we were having a boy and a girl which was even more exciting to have one of each.  Richard decided that their names needed to be Pirate Ranger for the boy and Viking Destroyer for the girl.  I told him that he was welcome to call them that but I wanted their names to be Charlie and Rosie, which he agreed were perfect names. 

The pregnancy went well, I was considered high risk so we did multiple ultra sounds at the hospital and everything looked good.  Around week 29 they were concerned with Rosie’s head shape and thought she may have Craniosynostosis and kept an eye on it the next few weeks.  On September 15, 2016 (week 31) during an ultrasound Rosie’s head looked great which we were relieved but the doctor discovered that Charlie was showing signs of having Downs Syndrome.  We went and had the blood test to determine this.  A few days later the results came back and Charlie did have Downs syndrome.  I felt at peace about this and thankful to have this blessing in my life.  I knew it would be tough but so rewarding.  

On September 21, 2016 we went in for our next ultrasound and the doctor discovered that Charlie had some fluid buildup in his body.  She seemed concerned about this and wanted to check on it the next day.   The next day the fluid buildup was getting worse so they admitted me to the hospital.  During the next 2 days they monitored the babies’ heartbeat and decided that they needed to take the babies out to save Charlie.  The doctor told me that Rosie would be okay coming out early to save her brother.  They scheduled the C-section for Friday, September 23.  Charlie was born with Rosie following a few minutes later. 

Charlie was immediately rushed to the intensive portion of the NICU with his little sister Rosie next to him.  Upon birth it was discovered that Charlie was a very sick little boy.  Not only did he have Down syndrome but he had High Drops, a hole in his heart, and Jeune syndrome which is a rare genetic disorder that affects the way a child’s cartilage and bones develop.  The nicu doctors at UVRMC worked around the clock to help Charlie.  They were AMAZING!!!!  We were very hopeful and trusting that these doctors performed miracles every day and that our little Charlie would be very sick but still with us.  The next few days that followed we started to realize that our sweet angel baby Charlie was much sicker than we ever could have imagined.  On Friday, September 30 the doctor on duty informed Richard that Charlie was close to passing and wanted to see what we wanted to do.  We decided to let Charlie pass peacefully in our arms.  We were able to hold our sweet boy for the first time and get some beloved family photos with the four of us.  Close family and friends came to say their goodbyes to Charlie and he slipped away peacefully in our arms on Saturday, October 1. 

Charles Spencer Mahon was a fighter from the day he was born.  It is a miracle that he lasted 8 days.  We feel like he wanted to stay on this earth but Heavenly Father had a different plan for him.  Now Rosie has an incredibly protective angel brother watching over her always.  We love our little Charlie angel and feel blessed to have been able to spend a few days with him.  We look forward to the day we can be with him again.    

101DaysofAngels