Happy Heart-Anniversary

The last 24 hours have been an emotional ride down memory lane. Right about this time, one year ago we were walking into this scene – seeing our little girl for the first time in over 13 hours. I’ll never forget this image. We weren’t sure we were in the right room; this little girl was too peachy pink. The care of the nurse who took the time to put her kitty slipper on her, because I mean Hope is always fashionable no matter how many lines she has surrounding her.

And how did we make it through? Just look at a few of these pictures to see how much support was showered on us.

And now, just take a look at her. I put lots more of her latest photos at the end, with a few videos of her, too.

Last year I was in crisis mode wondering if we would make it through the day. This year, I am in my bed with my husband and daughter, snuggling & taking pictures of this amazing little hero. All I can think is, “thank you!!!!.” To the donor family. To the surgery team. To the transplant team. To the CICU docs, nurses & staff. To the step down nurses and staff. To Rose & Agnes. To our families. To our Givaudan family. To our friends. To The powers that be. To the universe. Just thank you. Thanksgiving will never be the same for me because we will always be reminded of just how much we have to be grateful for this time of year.

To celebrate we wanted to share a piece of comfort with families still in the CICU. So we are taking Keystone catering down for lunch to the CICU families and the staff. Keystone was a regular spot for John and I to grab a bite to eat because it was close to the hospital and when we needed comfort food we could always count on some stick-to-your-ribs Mac & cheese and a skillet cookie to do the trick. What’s amazing is that someone shared Hope’s story with Keystone and they are donating the catering! We are blown away at the generosity of this local restaurant. If you haven’t eaten there, please do so – if only for the reason to support a restaurant that so generously gave back to its community.

If you have been touched by Hope & her journey and want to celebrate her milestone, we have an idea. We were blessed by an incredible act of selflessness and human kindness when a grieving family made an impossible choice that saved Hope’s life. So today, we want to invite you to seek out an opportunity to do a selfless act of kindness for someone else. It can be anything – big or small. It could be helping someone carry groceries or grabbing coffee for the person behind you or even just telling someone how much you appreciate them. We hope that all of us that have been along for this wild ride can spread Hope today through hundreds of acts of kindness every year in November 13th. Heaven might have sent Hope, but today each of us can help share it.

HOPES LATEST PHOTOS