March 17, 2007. I’ll never forget it. Kaki was a year and a half old and the pregnancy test was positive. We rejoiced like ten-year-olds at the circus!
Later that day I felt the “gush.” And then there was more. And it was all over.
I cried like a baby and every year after that, I would feel that same heaviness come over me as the calendar inched toward March 17.
Then one day, God intervened. Kaki was in school on March 17 and her fabulously creative first-grade teacher arrived early and WRECKED her classroom to make it look like little green people had overtaken it as they played all night and got into trouble. Overturned flower pots, green dust, little green footprints, and sprinkles everywhere set the tone that day for those first-graders.
Kaki flashed her toothless smile and laughed till it hurt just talking about how much fun she had that day. And so, of course, that became OUR new tradition–one we carried on long after first grade. Even when her little friend said, “I hate to tell you this, but I don’t think you’re Irish!” Kaki didn’t care. She was too busy having fun.
And for me, the days leading up to March 17 were no longer heavy, but exciting and full of plans for how to make it better than the year before.
I still hurt when I think about our loss, but I am overjoyed that the Lord gave me something joyous to remember each year as March 17 gets closer.
We serve a good and gracious God.
