She was an angel. Of that, I have no doubt. Her eyes shined so brightly in life, lighting up every room she ever occupied. Her laughter and her presence was like being near some unknown part or place in Heaven. She fought so hard to live the life she was given and we were blessed with. Hand in hand with her mother, she fought against the cystic fibrosis that invaded her lungs.
They are very much alike in their attributes-- beautiful fighters, blessings to every life they entered. She had the heart and strength and love of her mother deep within her and walking beside her from the day she was born.
I am convinced her mother is an angel as well. Beauty births beauty, strength carries strength, love endures and there is hope. Her mother showed that. Every day, every night. For very near sixteen years. Caring for and loving every moment they had-- not wasting one. She sacrificed much so that her daughter would have a blessed life, so she could be a girl, so she could laugh and see things and live a life. Her mother's love carried her in her life.
This little one lost her fight against the disease in her lungs late in the night on March 12, 2013. Those touching and heart-wrenching last moments between them reminds me of the difficult beauty and promise that our lives here are but a moment and though we are more empty without her in our lives, that emptiness will be filled and overflowed when we are reunited to a grander and more beautiful life that we can't even come close to compare in Heaven. There is only a temporary goodbye in life. There is a promise that our lives are not just what we live and see now, but far beyond what we know. There is Hope in these lives we live when there is no death to fear.
And now, that mother grieves. She grieves the loss of her angel just four months shy of her sixteenth birthday. How my heart hurts for her. The love I have for this little angel is nothing compared to the love and loss her mother suffers.
I wish I could comfort. I wish I could make better. I wish I could hold her hurting. I wish I had more to give. But I know everything that I could ever give is not enough. No amount of words or sacrifice or comfort could ever heal what only God can heal. Only God can give peace and understanding. Only God. All I can do is pray.
Never before has an Easter made more sense. I've heard the stories, I grew up with them. I know the sacrifice. This has been a hard year with a lot of sobering loss. First my grandfather and now such a sweet little girl who's time was far too soon. Death did not have to be a part of His plan, but He died so that when our bodies did, we would know what real life truly is... in eternity, filled with joy and pure Love. Though our bodies fail and fall like the sun set, in Faith we rise again to a new and intended life. That is our promise. The little one we have lost is Heaven's gain. She breathes deep, filling those once damaged lungs with the sweet smells surrounding her, filling them with laughter and talking to us in our prayers without the hindrance of coughing or shortness of breath. She is free and playing and she will be ready to run into our arms when our time comes to be called Home.
You will never be far from our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers, Delaney Faith... I look forward to seeing you there.
Delaney Faith Gralike
July 31, 1997- March 12, 2013
"Rest in His arms, little one... rest."
Thank you so much for sharing this, Brice. Beautifully written. So much of this I can relate to with my own family, so it sure does hit home. Thanks for being vulnerable and sharing, that others like myself might feel more connected, through the parallels of our own lives and the lives of those we know and love. Bless ya man!
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