Four years ago your heart beat a melody that I will never forget. We closed a chapter that was too short and though it seemed the end of the story, new chapters were yet to be written. It is hard to believe so many years could pass-and you frozen in my mind it seems-perhaps looking down and watching us from your perch on His lap.
Oh, how He loves us! Do you hear us when we sing? Our songs are new again for he has not ended our story just yet and the chapters continue to come. Your father told me recently that he looks at us all around the table sometimes and feels like there is one missing. Your brothers remember the day mommy cried and they said just the other day that they wished you were here. How they loved you and longed for you. It was difficult to explain to them that if you had come we would not have received Grace. You are the only one of them that understands why. Ah, Grace, what a beautiful little girl! Her chapters are in full swing and she has not disappointed you, I'm sure, as she has taken it upon herself to be rough and tumble just like her brothers. She's no girly girl-although she is terrified, at times, of the occasional bug. But what beauty has entered our lives because of your absence.
I am stronger and becoming a better mother, teaching Grace the gentle strength and quiet patience of being a woman. She adores your father and lives for his affection. Grace and Jacob are a pair of sweethearts, pals to the end. I will miss when he goes to school next year but she will be the one I am left with. Sweet, Grace. If it had been you I would never have enjoyed the company of a daughter and I am grateful for that. Yet you are still missed. There are various types of chapter in books we read. Some are exciting beginnings, new adventures, foretelling of future events, conquering challenges. We look fondly at our favorite chapters or the ones that meant a great deal to us, the ones we read and finally understood what the greater story was all about. Yours is a short chapter, the saddest one in my book, the one with no solution and no reason why. The sadness lingered through its following chapters and yet the chapters continue-the story still unfolding-one of joy, Grace, untold blessing, faithfulness and continuing towards unknown adventures and deeper love. One thing I have learned from my story's pages. No story ever worth telling was without a bit of sorrow and the richness of the story's outcome was always made better for it.
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