Thursday, March 17, 2011

Bittersweet St. Patrick's Day

If you're a Facebook friend or follow me on Twitter you'll know why today has been a bittersweet St. Patrick's Day. My niece's little daughter (my brother's granddaughter and my dad's first great grandchild) passed away at 5:30 this morning. On Monday she nearly drowned and she'd been in the hospital since that night. The oxygen was cut off from her brain and she was unresponsive though her pulse had been steady up until last night. The doctors told us to abandon hope yesterday and I stubbornly refused to. The chances of survival were at 20% but we still hoped and prayed. We were just recovering for the major blow of my dad's death (I was still heavily mourning a year ago) so this was horribly unexpected.

It's a little strange that my favorite day of the year (besides Christmas) will now be the anniversary of my little niece's death. I seriously looked forward to this day more than I do my birthday. This was going to be the first year I would celebrate St. Patrick's Day with confirmation that I'm actually part Irish (it was confirmed while going through my father's things and family tree). I'm sure in the coming years I'll be able to look at today as being the day in which my dad was joined by his first great granddaughter in heaven and will celebrate her life like I would any other member of my life. Today, I will mourn her death.

If y'all could please say a little prayer for my little niece, I would greatly appreciate it. May her mother (my older niece), her grandparents (my brother and sister-in-law), and the rest of the family make it through this time.

I'm sorry for such a downer post. I actually planned on talking about Irish Catholic traditions and more about my discovery of my Irish heritage (which was amazing for this Hibernophile) but maybe I'll wait until next year.

I hope y'all have a great St. Patrick's Day and that those who will go out drinking will be safe and have a designated driver.

3 comments:

Sr. Ann Marie said...

Please know that your family will be in my prayers. I will also ask the sisters I live with to pray for strength and comfort for all of you.

Angel said...

My dearest Emmy,

I am so sorry to learn of your loss. Know that my prayers are with you and your family. May our dear Lord bring you peace and comfort in this difficult time.

Much love,

Angelica

lestersalle said...

I am sorry to hear that, but dont feel sorry to be depressed even Jesus cried when his friend Lazarus died. But remember that we believe in the comnunion of Saints also. Count with my prayers and known it will be difficult to celebrate Easter with joy . A the Pope said in his message for Lent "Communion with Christ in this life prepares us to overcome the barrier of death, so that we may live eternally with him. Faith in the resurrection of the dead and hope in eternal life open our eyes to the ultimate meaning of our existence"