19.

Happy, happy birthday in heaven, sweet girl! This day will always, always be a gift no matter how many years go by--the day your parents held you in their arms for the first time, body and soul! To see, face-to-face, this new life God designed was as thrilling then as is it to remember now. 

I recently read something curious about time and our perception of eternity. While time marks movement through space for us, for God we are eternally present; there is no time. Heaven is outside of it. I immediately thought of you. You are, have always been and will always be. That is the reality and beauty of our souls. Your soul exists. Your soul is very much alive and well. And while we will always be marked by your birth, it is eternity where the real party is happening. 😊 

We miss you here and love you there, dear Kyrie! Grateful that you love us back. 🩷

The Day the Angels Came

The Day the Angels Came

a grandpa's prayer and poem for Kyrie Dawn

Wednesday, April 4, the day we heard of the explosive growth of the tumors

Alas! O, Lord what is it that I hear?

Is it Your angels coming for our Kyrie Dawn?

O, please Lord, keep them at bay--

If just for one more day.

Thursday, April 5, Holy Thursday

O, Lord, what is this I hear?

Is it that You need another little angel to be near?

O, please Lord, please Lord, don't take our Kyrie dear.

Could You please keep Your angels away,

and we could have her just one more day?

Friday, April 6, Good Friday

O, precious, sweet Jesus, is this the day?

No, no, dear Lord, not today--

This is Your day that You died to save.

Again, please Dear God, let us be selfish

and keep sweet Kyrie another day.

Saturday, April 7, Holy Saturday Easter Vigil

Thank you dear God in heaven

for yet another precious day--

For we all know things will be done your way.

Little Kyrie Dawn is fighting so very hard--

Yesterday she three her ball three times

till her tiny arm got tired.

Angel of God, my guardian dear,

To whom God's love entrusts her here,

Ever this day be at her side

To light, to guard, to rule to guide. Amen.

Sunday, April 8, Easter Sunday

Dear God in Heaven, Your angels came last night,

As we all knew that someday they might.

They came around the hour of seven

to take our precious one to her

special place in heaven.

Sweet Jesus, we know that you, too, love the little ones,

so to You we give You our little Kyrie Dawn--

And in the end, it is always Your will that will be done.

Amen.

Love,

Papa

originally published April 7, 2007

18.

Happy, happy 18th birthday, dear Kyrie!

Birth. Day. Isn't it curious that birth—a one-time occurance for each of us—is so grand, so brilliantly miraculous that we recognize and commemorate that event every. single. year. 

Your birth was, indeed, grand and brilliantly miraculous. Your soul was made visible. You made two people in our family parents for the very first time. You created a family. You brought the sweetest little face into the world. All of that happened. You happened.

I'm always torn writing your birthday posts because I know I wouldn't be sending birthday wishes this way if you were still with us. I'd be sending a card or giving you a hug, asking you about college or friends. I imagine how much your little sister and birthday cousin would look up to you. I imagine how much we'd all take for granted you walking through the door. 

This birthday, the one where you'd stand on the precipice of adulthood, reminds me just how marvelous it is that we exist at all, how we are loved into being, how we were intended to be here and how our return home is the what this life is all about. That's probably why I still post—because you exist, once here with us and now forever where we all hope to be.

Will be sending your birthday love in my prayers today, dear one. Grateful that you continue to be such a gift. 💗

The Day the Angels Came

The Day the Angels Came

a grandpa's prayer and poem for Kyrie Dawn

Wednesday, April 4, the day we heard of the explosive growth of the tumors

Alas! O, Lord what is it that I hear?

Is it Your angels coming for our Kyrie Dawn?

O, please Lord, keep them at bay--

If just for one more day.

Thursday, April 5, Holy Thursday

O, Lord, what is this I hear?

Is it that You need another little angel to be near?

O, please Lord, please Lord, don't take our Kyrie dear.

Could You please keep Your angels away,

and we could have her just one more day?

Friday, April 6, Good Friday

O, precious, sweet Jesus, is this the day?

No, no, dear Lord, not today--

This is Your day that You died to save.

Again, please Dear God, let us be selfish

and keep sweet Kyrie another day.

Saturday, April 7, Holy Saturday Easter Vigil

Thank you dear God in heaven

for yet another precious day--

For we all know things will be done your way.

Little Kyrie Dawn is fighting so very hard--

Yesterday she three her ball three times

till her tiny arm got tired.

Angel of God, my guardian dear,

To whom God's love entrusts her here,

Ever this day be at her side

To light, to guard, to rule to guide. Amen.

Sunday, April 8, Easter Sunday

Dear God in Heaven, Your angels came last night,

As we all knew that someday they might.

They came around the hour of seven

to take our precious one to her

special place in heaven.

Sweet Jesus, we know that you, too, love the little ones,

so to You we give You our little Kyrie Dawn--

And in the end, it is always Your will that will be done.

Amen.

Love,

Papa

originally published April 7, 2007

17.

Happy earthly birthday in heaven, sweet Kyrie!

Typing 17 seems like a strange mistake, imagining little you as a nearly grown you. We see your younger siblings sprout beyond kidhood into teenhood, and it's difficult to comprehend that you'd be leading the pack in height (from the predictions of your 1yo foot and growth charts), in wisdom, in driving and likely, in humor. 

No matter how many years go by, you know that your mom and dad still hold you in every beat of their hearts. This day is a reminder of overwhelming joy that you were, indeed, here and threaded with unshakeable consolation that you are waiting as a tiny saint in our forever home. That's the gift that you give every single year on this day. 

That said, the love is still very much alive. That's what the soul is made for: love. And today we celebrate the day your soul and ours were in the same room, a space filled with love, hope and joy—together. 

Until we see you again, happy 17th, sweet girl!

The Day the Angels Came

The Day the Angels Came

a grandpa's prayer and poem for Kyrie Dawn

Wednesday, April 4, the day we heard of the explosive growth of the tumors

Alas! O, Lord what is it that I hear?

Is it Your angels coming for our Kyrie Dawn?

O, please Lord, keep them at bay--

If just for one more day.

Thursday, April 5, Holy Thursday

O, Lord, what is this I hear?

Is it that You need another little angel to be near?

O, please Lord, please Lord, don't take our Kyrie dear.

Could You please keep Your angels away,

and we could have her just one more day?

Friday, April 6, Good Friday

O, precious, sweet Jesus, is this the day?

No, no, dear Lord, not today--

This is Your day that You died to save.

Again, please Dear God, let us be selfish

and keep sweet Kyrie another day.

Saturday, April 7, Holy Saturday Easter Vigil

Thank you dear God in heaven

for yet another precious day--

For we all know things will be done your way.

Little Kyrie Dawn is fighting so very hard--

Yesterday she three her ball three times

till her tiny arm got tired.

Angel of God, my guardian dear,

To whom God's love entrusts her here,

Ever this day be at her side

To light, to guard, to rule to guide. Amen.

Sunday, April 8, Easter Sunday

Dear God in Heaven, Your angels came last night,

As we all knew that someday they might.

They came around the hour of seven

to take our precious one to her

special place in heaven.

Sweet Jesus, we know that you, too, love the little ones,

so to You we give You our little Kyrie Dawn--

And in the end, it is always Your will that will be done.

Amen.

Love,

Papa

originally published April 7, 2007

16.

 

Happy heavenly sweet 16, dear Kyrie!

Sixteen.

Six. Teen.

Driving. Laughing. Singing. Dancing. I won’t mention dating because your parents—and me—would flip out. ;) High school would be in full swing for you. Homecoming would be just around the corner, and I can only imagine you, your mama and little sister choosing an outfit for the dance.

I remember on the last night I saw you, your dad poured out a letter, and in it, he mentioned that he wouldn’t get to teach you to drive, and you’d never go to a high school prom. Both of those things would be on the radar right now for you family, if you were still earthside. 

It’s easy to think about what might have been, especially as these years pass and as milestones come & go for your peers. It’s easy to feel the compounded loss of your physical presence. But it’s also easy to still love you, still know that you are part of this family, still know that your life matters, both here and there, to know that in Christ, there are no goodbyes. This was the promise from the very beginning. His love is our love, and that is still very much alive and well.

So we celebrate the wonderfully made human that God sent your mom and dad 16 years ago. 

Grateful for every day you were with us. 

Happy, happy earthly birthday, sweet girl!