For Sarah & Brooke

This is a picture of my cousins holding me as a baby. The older one with dark curly hair is my beautiful and sweet cousin Sarah. Just like this picture she has been this wonderful her whole life. Shining light and kindness to all. Always with a smile. I love this wonderful woman.

This last week my cousin’s 18 month old daughter, Brooke, passed away. She aspirated a bean and suffered brain damage. It was a week of faith and many prayers but in the end our prayers turned from those of healing Brooke, to comforting and supporting Sarah and her family. With Brooke’s passing they were able to donate her organs to several families.

Sweet Brooke.

You can read about it in Sarah’s own tender words here. I don’t know how to thank Sarah for opening up during this time and sharing her thoughts and feelings and asking for prayers. It has truly changed me.

I don’t have words to describe all my feelings. But I do believe in an afterlife, I do believe in heaven and I believe Sarah and her husband will see their sweet Brooke again. I do believe prayer is a powerful communication to our maker and God and he does listen to us and loves us. I do believe that it is through all the prayers and faith of Sarah and her husband’s friends and family that they were able to feel peace and comfort. But I also know there are many more hard days ahead so I ask that you pray for them now and keep them in your prayers that they may continue to feel peace.

We are all friends and family. Your sorrow is my sorrow, your grief is my grief, your joy is my joy, and I will rejoice with you in your rejoicing.

If you would like to purchase any of these 4 picture/quotes, I made, through my etsy shop, I will donate all the money to my cousin’s fund to help pay for the medical and funeral costs. (It is a JPEG file that I will e-mail to you directly that you can print however you like). Click here and it will direct you to my etsy shop. On her blog it also shows how to donate directly to them. 

This quote is so precious to me.

Last night our 5 year old little boy was saying his prayers and he said, "and please bless we sleep good, and please bless Brooke, and please help us not hit people . . ." After the prayer I said, "I thought I told you, Brook passed away, she is in heaven now." He gave me this weird look and said, "I know." It never occurred to him that just because she passed away that we should stop praying for her. I think in our home we will still pray for Brooke in heaven for quite some time. 

Here are Sarah’s words

Brooke's time on earth is at an end. She has had an amazing and joyful life. I have often wondered how God could bear to let her come down here, and I guess He knew that it would only be a short while. She has done what she needed to here on earth. She has made me a mother, and Darren a father. She has knit us so very close together. She has brought joy to everyone who has seen her. She has received her perfect, darling, chubby little body. She has lived every precious moment of her life to the fullest.

I hope that everyone who has hoped and prayed for our sweet little Brooke can feel some measure of the peace and grace we feel now. I know it is because of your powerful prayers and the mercy of God. Today I have felt light and happy. Never in a million years would I have ever thought that I would use those words to describe my heart on a day like today. But I have. I have felt lifted and floated. I have felt very close to the veil, and received wonderful spiritual impressions of the joy, beauty and love in the place where Brooke is now. We feel that her spirit has left her body, and that she is in the arms of our loving Savior, and with family that loves and cherishes her.