I picture your grandma walking with you around our property, embodying patience and grace as she watches you toddle around, stopping to explore and examine every. single. thing. 

I am a mother.

I am a daughter.

I am a mother who has lost her daughter and a daughter who has lost her mother. 

There’s no Hallmark card for this. 

Are there seasons in Heaven, Norah? Do you get to feel the heat of summer sun on your skin or be refreshed by a deep breath of crisp fall air? Do you get to make snow angels in the winter that provide a place for the first blades of springtime grass to peek through? 

Sometimes people think that a child born after loss helps to ease the pain, being a life to celebrate and carry forward. But our love and gratitude for the life of Lora stands side-by-side with the love and longing we carry for you. This is no different than any other family, really; having a second child doesn’t mean you love your first child any less – it simply means that your heart expands to hold both. That’s true for loss families as well, it just looks a little different. 

In celebration of Norah’s second birthday we’re selling shirts today through the end of March to raise money for Love, Norah – an initiative started by our doula (Jen Koenig of Sacred Space Birth Services) in honor of Norah to provide doula birth support to families in times of need — medical difficulty, anticipated loss, etc.

Some people say two is terrible. Knowing you, I think two will be incredible. Norah, we are so proud of all you’ve done. Happy birthday, baby girl. We love you to the moon and back.