Remembering Emily – 5 Years

Five years have passed since our daughter Emily was born, having entered Heaven before us. Since there have been two leap years in the past 5 years, her birthday falls on a Sunday again just like her birth date was a Sunday. Any 5th birthday, that is, any birthday for an age ending in 5 or 0, usually is celebrated more specially. I think perhaps this is especially true for the very first 5th birthday, which comes with so many important milestones. For example, my son started Kindergarten at age 5 and he was already reading and writing fairly well by that time. Emily was born past the cutoff date for starting Kindergarten this year, but I’m sure she would have learned enough from her older brother to have been successful in it.

Emily At Five Years

Probably Emily would have started Transitional Kindergarten this year. She could even join her big brother, who is 7 years old and started second grade a few weeks ago, at his school. The school recently introduced its new TK program after having omitted it from their offering for many years. It’s the same school I attended for 14 years from Pre-Kindergarten through my senior year of high school.

I can imagine her holding a “My First Day of TK” sign for an obligatory keepsake photo. She might look a little nervous or shy in the picture, but looking deeper you would find beauty in her fearlessness to take on a new chapter in her life. As her mother I would be so proud and maybe a little teary-eyed thinking about how much she has grown and at the same time how much she would learn during the next year. Most of all I would pray for her to continue to learn from me and from the school about Jesus, the wonderful works He has done and how worthy He is of her trust and devotion for all her life.

Remembering Emily Activities

These are some of the ways I have honored and celebrated Emily’s life this year.

Purple Frosted Birthday Cake and #5 Balloon

Every birthday calls for cake, in my opinion, so I ordered a professionally made chocolate cake in honor of Emily this year. It was 1/4″ sheet in size, covered with purple frosting and finished with white writing that read, “Happy 5th birthday, Emily! <3” I also purchased a silver balloon of the number 5 for some extra birthday fun.

Annual Reading of 2 Corinthians 9

For the second year in a row, I read 2 Corinthians 9 at her grave. My favorite part of the chapter will always be verse 8 about God’s grace granting us “sufficiency at all times in all things for every good work.” However, I found myself repeating verse 15 multiple times: “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” He has seen fit to bless our family tremendously and we cannot thank Him enough.

Introducing Little Sister Cherie

On August 7, 2024, we welcomed a second daughter into our family. Though we were not actively trying to conceive, the news that Emily would have a little sister came as a delightful surprise. Since early 2020, only 6 months after Emily was born, I knew I wanted my second daughter, if I had one, to be named Cherie Esperance. Her first name Cherie is simply one I have always liked because I like the French language. But the middle name Esperance was chosen in honor of Emily. It means “hope” in French, and having been encouraged by Hope Mommies with the gift box I received on the very day Emily was born, I wanted “hope” to be part of my future daughter’s name.

Cherie accompanied me to the grave site and I introduced Emily to her little sister. I told Emily I can’t speak for her, but I like to think she would love Cherie as much as her 7-year-old brother does. About Cherie I said I don’t know how she will feel once she knows she has an older sister, but at least she has two big brothers to protect her. Then I thanked God that Emily has all the protection she needs in the presence of our Savior.

Little Girl Rainbow Cross Stitch Pattern

Last year I asked my sister to give me a certain cross stitch kit as a gift for my birthday. The design reminds me of Emily because it features a little girl blowing bubbles in front of a tree with rainbow colors. My eyes were drawn to the purple in it, which is Emily’s favorite. Once I have completed the cross stitch pattern, it will make a great addition to our rainbow themed children’s room. I’ll even add a note close to it so it will always be clear that it was made in honor of our daughter who went before us into Heaven.

Passing Down Baby Clothes

Before we learned that Emily’s heart had stopped beating, we received a gift bag from friends congratulating us on our coming little girl. It was filled with baby girl clothes to be used over the following several months. The prenatal appointment during which her heaven-going was confirmed was only the day after we received that gift bag, so the clothes remained in the bag all this time. Now that we have Cherie, we can pass those clothes originally meant for Emily down to her little sister. I never felt ready to go through them and give them away, and now we don’t have to – at least not until Cherie has benefited from them. 🙂

Happy 5th Birthday, Emily!

Happy birthday, sweet Emily! We are now 5 years closer to being together as a complete family when we are all in Heaven one day. Until then, keep working diligently on whatever tasks Jesus has assigned to you in Heaven, and I will strive to do the same as long as I am here on earth. Praise, thanks and glory to our Lord and Savior forever and ever.