This photo of Natalie Grace (not quite 3-years-old at the time) was taken just hours before being diagnosed with cancer, August 16, 2012.
Five years ago Dan, Natalie and I experienced a horrible night. It was so much more then the average evening parents spend with a child fighting a cold or an earache. At least on those nights we're able to get some sleep amongst the coughs and cries....but last night (five years ago) was very different. Natalie's cries couldn't be comforted, she was moaning (in pain) and none of my usual mommy tricks were working. I rocked her sitting and standing, sang her favorite songs softly in her ear, she had her binky, her bunnies....I even tried giving her something to eat. She had a slight fever so I thought maybe that was what was bothering her so I gave her some Tylenol and watched slowly as the minutes moved on. Natalie wasn't quite 3-years-old at the time so she couldn't articulate what she was feeling exactly, so she simply whimpered repeating, "ouiee" over and over. |