Every good and perfect gift is from above (Mile 4)

Some of these posts will be very sad.  This is the saddest of them all (fair warning).


We met Don in 2006 when he moved into a house with Matt and some mutual friends.  Matt and I say this in the most affectionate way (as Don is one of our very best friends) but Don is one of the most unusual guys we know.  Don is a modern American hero with two tours in Iraq under his belt--where he was brilliant enough to work as an AC mechanic which made him the most valuable (and likable) guy around.  He always has some sort of experiment going on, like the time where he labeled his socks for the days of the week and examined their tread patters (which i recently found out is on-going).  We were all pleasantly shocked when Don began dating Alissa, one of the kindest, sweetest, and un-unusual people you'd ever meet.  And somehow, they are a perfect pair.

In early 2009, we were again pleasantly surprised when we heard that the couple was pregnant.  A few months later, the expecting parents had a house and a room prepared for her, and I (along with many friends) had the privilege of throwing sweet Amelia Erin a shower.  I painted a canvas that hung in Amelia's room that said "Every Good and Perfect Gift is from Above. -James 1:17."  Her due date was Halloween and Matt and I had our costumes ready to go meet little Amelia at the hospital.

The most shocking and tragic moment in my life thus far was receiving a phone call that Amelia had not made it through childbirth.

Words cannot express the emotions--denial, grief, and anger--that accompanies the death of a child.  I wanted to tear the whole world down.  Everything is unfair after that.  What was worse is I knew Don and Alissa were experiencing the same pain one hundred-fold.   It was a feeling of complete hopelessness.  However, it was Don and Alissa that gave the rest of us hope.

I have never met two stronger or braver people than Don and Alissa.  They have taken a situation that had the capability to destroy two people and have used it to grow stronger individually and together.  They had a decision to make--they could have been bitter and angry (and no one would have blamed them) or they could strengthen themselves in their faith and love and be a blessing to others.  They never miss an opportunity to talk about their daughter and it is a blessing every time.  Seeing them find the good in such a tragedy gives me and others strength to do the things that seem impossible. Just like with running, I have learned from them to take challenges one step at a time.


Every day I think about what Amelia would be doing now.  I would probably get to log some running hours by chasing her around the house at this age.  Mile 4 is in memory of sweet Amelia Erin.