'til we meet again

It was 6 years ago today that we held our sweet Joshua Michael in our arms until God took him home.

Joshie was born at 10:15 am on March 18, 2003 at Ottawa General Hospital weighing 1 lb, 6 oz. Despite his optimistic beginning, his extreme prematurity led to his rapid deterioration. We had the honour of parenting Josh for two days until he died in our arms on March 20, 2003. We will forever cherish the hours we spent holding him and talking to him before he passed away. We will always be thankful for this little while.

This is what we wrote for Josh for the memorial services:

To Josh

It's supposed to be July,
But it's March

You were too young to be born today
Any yet your little fingers already have fingernails,
Your tiny head already has dark hair.

Your skin, thin and fragile, bruises so easily
And yet you are beautiful,
Fearfully and wonderfully made.

How we longed to comfort you
Feeling so helpless as we sat at your bedside
Watching you through glass...
Praying for you...
Hoping you felt our love.

We may never understand why it's March
But we're blessed to have this precious time with you.
We love you Josh,
You'll always be in our hearts.


To read Josh's story...

Water break and Josh is born
Jonah's born (while I was in labour with Jonah, Josh's condition quickly deteriorated)
Saying good-bye to Josh

As always, please feel free to comment... it helps knowing that others have taken the time to get to know our little boys, even if only through their Mummy & Daddy.