Beverly

The girls and I made a trip to the store today and we got as far as walking into the produce section before Kaili started talking the ear off one of the employees.  They visited for quite a while before I was finally able to pull Kaili away from the lady, who I had learned was named Beverly.

As I finished grabbing my veggies Beverly walked up to me, smiled, and explained that she had this strong feeling that she needed to tell me something.  She then proceeded to tell me the story of the last 10 months of her life:

After ten years of trying, she had finally gotten pregnant.  Then, ten months ago, she lost the baby after 5 months of pregnancy.  She had lots of complications with the pregnancy but an autopsy was done and they found out that the baby had Down Syndrome.  They also discovered that her husband’s chromosomes don’t respond well to hers and they will probably never be able to have children.

She glanced at Averi, then looked me square in the eyes and said, “You have no idea how blessed you are.”  My heart ached for her and I just wanted to reach out and hug her.

After leaving the store, I couldn’t get Beverly off my mind.  I don’t know if she needed to tell me her story but I definitely needed to hear it.  Averi has been hard to care for from day one and I often complain about the tediousness of the job, but she truly is a blessing in our lives.  I wouldn’t trade her for the world, even if it does mean I get all her ‘baggage.’

I am so grateful for a stranger that took time out of her day to remind me just how lucky I am that Averi is still with us and I can cuddle her all I want.