Birthday Girl

On June 14^th we celebrated the third birthday of Grace Guiry Watson, our beloved niece and cousin. We still feel daily the loss of this beautiful girl and our family will forever carry a Grace-shaped hole. Mark is out of town this week, so it was just me and the kids– we released balloons sending shouts of “Happy Birthday, Grace” into the sea of blue sky, read beautiful words of remembrance from Phil and Kaitlin, baked a batch of strawberry cupcakes (Clara’s specific request-they had to be pink), made big wishes over three small candles and said a prayer of hope that one day we will all celebrate together in a feast beyond our imagining.  This was the first year that Clara could grasp the connection and her tender heart concluded after a series of questions, “Grace belongs to me, just like Baby Mara.” 

In our reading from Phil and Kaitlin they included this quote from Frederick Buechner: “Maybe the most sacred function of memory is just that: to render the distinction between past, present, and future ultimately meaningless; to enable us at some level of our being to inhabit that same eternity which it is said that God himself inhabits.”  Our hearts search for those moments– when we can seize just a sliver of the eternal perspective and the slightest glimmer reveals the presence of God, the communion of saints and we can catch a glimpse of the smile of our adored, cherished and loved Grace.  Happy Birthday, Gracie, with love– lots of love.