Gabriel's MOD Walk.

When I got pregnant with Gabriel I joined a forum for January 2012 moms. They followed me through my journey with Gabriel both before, and after our diagnosis. Then after his birth, I joined their Facebook group and have been grateful that they kept me a J12 mom despite the fact that my baby didn't live and despite the fact that he was born in December (if you don't remember, his due date was January 4th).

This was the same group that arranged for the beautiful necklace I recieved a few days after Gabriel's birth:

One of the women in the group did a March of Dimes walk on April 27th. Her family designed a shirt that had all the J12 preemie babies on it to honor them all (including her son).  She asked me if she could include Gabriel's name. Of course she could! As if I could say no.

But I wasn't prepared for what she actually meant....

What an honor! I was in tears, bawling at work because this was an amazing tribute to my little man. And how amazing is it that a "stranger", someone who I've never met in person, would pay such a tribute to my son, who she never met! 

Someday, I'm going to join these ladies when they do their get togethers... They've done so much for me and been there so many times, I could never repay them.

And for the record, surprisingly, being part of the group and seeing all the updates about all their little ones doesn't bring me much heartache. It reminds me what stage Gabriel would be at and what things he'd be doing right  now. It brings me a lot of joy to know how much these women love and cherish their little ones...