Getting close to the 9-month mark of your Heavenly journey. It’s odd to think it takes about 9 months to grow a perfectly wonderful baby. The pain is great. You watch as your body grows and changes. You sometimes get scars. You go through sickness and so many emotional changes. In the back of your mind you keep plugging away thinking I know this is all gonna be worth it. It comes time to deliver and you are overwhelmed with such pain ….nothing to compare it to. Then you hear… it’s a…boy or boys in my case. You hold and make eye contact and suddenly everything you just put your body through for 9 excruciating months is worth it to hold such a beautiful little angel. Now I am here and there are so many similarities. Our pain has been great, and we have so many scars that cannot be seen. We have physically felt pain and sickness of such grief that nothing compares. It’s almost 9 months and I know I will not get to hold you or look at your beautiful face…not yet anyway. In my mind I often question what is the point of all of this. My mind is suddenly swept back to a flood of sweet memories. Duncan this is absolutely the hardest thing I have ever gone thru but I would 100 percent do it again for any amount of time given with you. Every day I pray to God that this journey counts. That God takes the pain and uses it for His Glory and to win souls. I pray your struggle will help someone as well as our struggle without you. I love you much and hold your memories until I can hold you once more.

Love,

Mom

Marian Callahan, mother of Edward Bo Andrews

Love is in the air!  Think of February and what comes to mind?  Hearts, flowers, candy and love?  There is no greater love than the love of a mother for her child.  It is the purest, unadulterated form of love there is.  Our love for our child is unconditional and knows no bounds.                                                                                                                               

Love is eternal— it does not die. Even though our child has died the love we hold for them continues forever. Yes, our heart may be shattered in a million pieces, but it still doesn’t affect the love we have for our child and never will.  It is this love that I hold dear to my heart that helps me to go on. I share that love with all I know. I will never forget my child and will always bask in the sweet memories tucked in my heart. I think about him often, love sharing stories about him with all who will listen. I cherish the pictures I have taken and trust me there are so many. I also share the love with others he left behind, such as his siblings and others who knew him and are affected by the loss.                                                                                                                         

There’s another saying that is so true, “It is better to have loved and lost than not at all.”  Every day I thank God that I was Bo’s mother, that I was blessed with his presence in my life, that I had the opportunity to love him and be loved by him. I wouldn’t trade the fact that my son lived (even if not long enough) for anything. I would do it all over again even if I knew that he would die. I am so grateful that he lived and know that I will be with him one day again.  

So, this February for Valentine’s Day, I’ll love the ones that are still here, and I’ll send some love up to Heaven to the boy who loved holidays and candy.  I’ll smile when I think of him and another small piece of my heart will mend. Take time this Valentine’s Day to cherish the love for your child, bask  in your sweet memories, laugh at the things they did (laughter is a great healer), look at their pictures, eat their favorite candy and know that your love goes on and will for all eternity. Be blessed!!