"If You're Reading This"

I wasn't planning on writing about Katie Granju and her son Henry's sad passing. So many have reached out with their words to pay tribute to this suffering family.

It was when I was driving today and heard the song, "If You're Reading This" by the talented Tim McGraw that I became inspired.

The song begins with these words.

If you're reading this

My momma is sitting there

Looks like I only got a one way ticket over here

I sure wish I could give you one more kiss

I'm up here with God

And we're both watching over you

I immediately thought of Katie and the depth of her pain, now. Even more, what is to come when the initial protection that God gives us in these situations wears off and life keeps happening.

Still listening...

So lay me down

In that open field out on the edge of town

And know my soul

Is where my momma always prayed where it would go.

If you're reading this I'm already home.

As I listen, I feel deeply sad, brought to tears for a mother and her baby boy. A mother who undoubtedly loves this boy more than life itself.

Katie and I are strangers. But all mothers are so completely connected when it comes to the love, the undying adoration, we have for our children.

My mother, who survived extreme childhood abuse, always told me that her healing may make her crazy, but if she ever lost me, that would be it.

And when I lost my baby at 7 weeks gestation, a misfortune that some do not even consider a loss, I felt doors of pain open up in my soul that I didn't know existed.

But even more, when I hold my baby girl everyday, I feel love that I could have never imagined in my wildest dreams.

The loss of a child is incomprehensible pain. It will never fully go away, nor would we want it too, but time will heal your heart Katie. Time will give you back your breath.

Just remember this

I'm in a better place

Soldiers live in peace and angels sing amazing grace

Henry you are a soldier, your passing will not be in vein, your memory will live on.