Wow!

Some of you may know that my OB/GYN passed away unexpectedly last year when I was about 7 months pregnant with Abby. It was a tragic loss and totally unexpected. She was an amazing person and a great doctor she was always so positive and happy.

Well, I received an email from her mother yesterday, which quite honestly threw me for a loop. She thanked me for the note I'd written in the Guest Book (to which there are over 500 pages). They are making some quilts in honor of Dr. Parks and asked if I would participate by using one word to describe her daughter.

WOW!

I felt totally honored, and it may be something that they are asking of everyone who wrote in the guest book but I still felt honored to be asked. I had to think about it over night because how you do sum up how you feel about someone, especially someone like her, in one word? It was no easy task and not one to be taken lightly, although she probably would've liked it if I had said something silly or goofy.

But I came to the conclusion that FRIEND was the right word. When I think of a friend I think of someone who is, giving, caring, loving, loyal, compassionate, sincere, optimistic, funny, smart, kind...Dr. Parks encompassed all those good characteristics and used them in her work. She really helped SO many people and not just by being their doctor but by being their friend.

In a follow up email from Dr. Parks mom I received today, I found out that they are going to embroider these one words onto the quilts with the name of the sender beneath it, so that someday Dr. Parks' kids (twins-who just turned 3) "will know the people she loved and who loved her back". She closed her email with this "Have a blessed Christmas and cherish the ones you love."

A good reminder from someone who knows just how short life can be and I plan to do just that!