I've been really slow to write this because I wanted to make sure I could do it justice. I didn't want to write a cursory post in the hospital when I knew I couldn't devote the time to it that I wanted.
When I woke up on the morning of August 3rd, I felt so alone and anxious. We were leaving that afternoon to begin our VEPTR journey with our little girl, and we really had no idea what was going to happen. I was beaten down and just plain sad.
Little did I know what had been in the works for months. My amazing sister had planned a HUGE send-off for us that involved lots of lies and avoidances of truth along the way! Matt staged that he had to go pick up his laptop from the church (he knew just a tiny bit--enough to get us to the church). When we made the turn onto the road the church was on and I looked up into the parking lot...I saw cars.
TONS of cars.
And a huge line of people dressed in purple.
Some were in tutus.
Everybody had signs, balloons, and noise makers.
250+ people were there for us.
Did I mention it was a sea of purple?!?!
I was in absolute shock. All of these people were here because they love and care about our family. We had family members, people from our church, CCPS staff members, friends, people from the community we didn't even know...it was incredible. What an outpouring of love. I didn't even know what to say.
When we drove around and got out of the car, I hugged my sister and stood there in awe for a few minutes!
Bruce made a sweet little speech using the speaker on his police car. Then Pastor Wagner had everyone join hands and pray, which was pretty amazing to see in itself.
We spent the next hour or so greeting everyone and thanking them for coming. I tried so hard to get to everyone, but as I went through the pictures I realized that I missed some people! So I'm sorry if I didn't get to thank you personally!!
Now it's time for the photo dump. I know this isn't everyone, but I tried to include lots of pictures so that you could get an idea of how amazing this all was!!
(I didn't include names to protect the people pictured, just in case some weren't crazy about having that info on the internet!) :)
When I woke up on the morning of August 3rd, I felt so alone and anxious. We were leaving that afternoon to begin our VEPTR journey with our little girl, and we really had no idea what was going to happen. I was beaten down and just plain sad.
Little did I know what had been in the works for months. My amazing sister had planned a HUGE send-off for us that involved lots of lies and avoidances of truth along the way! Matt staged that he had to go pick up his laptop from the church (he knew just a tiny bit--enough to get us to the church). When we made the turn onto the road the church was on and I looked up into the parking lot...I saw cars.
TONS of cars.
And a huge line of people dressed in purple.
Some were in tutus.
Everybody had signs, balloons, and noise makers.
250+ people were there for us.
Did I mention it was a sea of purple?!?!
When we drove around and got out of the car, I hugged my sister and stood there in awe for a few minutes!
Bruce made a sweet little speech using the speaker on his police car. Then Pastor Wagner had everyone join hands and pray, which was pretty amazing to see in itself.
We spent the next hour or so greeting everyone and thanking them for coming. I tried so hard to get to everyone, but as I went through the pictures I realized that I missed some people! So I'm sorry if I didn't get to thank you personally!!
Now it's time for the photo dump. I know this isn't everyone, but I tried to include lots of pictures so that you could get an idea of how amazing this all was!!
(I didn't include names to protect the people pictured, just in case some weren't crazy about having that info on the internet!) :)
My sweet friend with her little heart warrior (he has on a custom made I <3 abby="" and="" her="" of="" p="" shirt="" some="" students="">
One of Caleb's best friends and his family (his best friend's mom is now his teacher!
Men in tutus...love it!!
Amy and Owen
My mom and sister managed to keep this a secret for a very long time!
Caleb's other best friend!
Love the support for my Caleb Boy. He sure is the best big brother ever!!
Abby's awesome pediatrician came! He is an incredible man and doctor.
Janet was instrumental in helping my sister make signs and get accessories for everyone to wear. What a sweet woman!
Some of my family!
Our best friends were away, but they made a special sign just for us!
This sweet lady has been SUCH an encouragement to me over the last four years. She gets it in a way that most can't, and I love her so much! I love her wonderful daughter too!!
Awesome family!!
My cousin and her family (the baby is in the carrier sleeping!)
This hysterical family had me laughing so much! Their mom was making a tutu for herself and then her boys wanted to wear them! She said this is the closest to having a girl!
Several work friends came to show their support!
Another wonderful work friend and her family!
Wonderful, supportive family!
Great family--the mom worked with my mom and the family joined us for the Shuffle last year!
Sweet church family!
Caleb's wonderful kindergarten teacher and her daughter
Another family of Abby Cheerleaders from our church
Abby's awesome speech therapist and her family (I don't know what I will do when Abby has to transition to school-based therapy! This woman has taught me so much, given me so many hugs, and endured so many questions!! She is a saint!!)
Great church family (I had the sweet little girl in VBS this year!)
Oh, Owen!
From the bottom of my heart...thank you to EVERYONE who came to our send-off. It was such an overwhelming and emotional event. We are SO grateful for your love and support! And to that amazing big sister of mine...I love you. You are incredible. Thank you for all of the time and effort you put into this. There's no thanks big enough to show how much this meant to us.
God reminded me in HUGE way on August 3rd that we are most certainly NOT alone in all of this!
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