Story Elias Branagan
Story was a beautiful baby girl born on July 15, 2009. She was healthy, content, and a blessed addition to our family. If only we knew how little time we would have with her.
She passed away on July 25, 2009. The cause was ruled as SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) Our beautiful ten-day-old baby girl had gone to be with Jesus.
Losing Story is the most painful thing we have ever experienced - an absolutely, devastatingly, unexpected shock. We have been going crazy with the pain and ache we are feeling. Our comfort is that we feel Gods calling to turn this pain into something for His glory. No parent loses their child in vain - God has a plan for everyone's lives. Story is in heaven with Him now . . . and the drastic change this has brought to our lives is meant for a purpose. We will forever keep Story's memory alive.
Keegan (our firstborn son)
July 19, 2008 - Saturday was Keegan's birthday. We got the pictures and update letter on Saturday. Kale and Timber both know they have an older brother who lives in Missouri. We've tried our best to explain adoption to Kale. We read books and talk about Keegan openly. I don't know if it's the right thing to do, but I know keeping skeletons in the closet can never turn out well. Kale looks forward to the update letters and pictures we get twice a year. Casper and I talked about possibly getting a little cake this year, with Keegan's name on it to help Kale and Timber feel like they were celebrating their brother's birthday. Kale has asked for three years now why he can't go to Keegan's birthday party, so we thought maybe a cake would be helpful. On the other hand that might be just crazy . . . I really don't know. I do know that when I went to the grocery store on Saturday I wasn't feeling depressed, but just emotionally vacant. Then, I walked up to the bakery and started looking at the cakes. It hit me like a ton of bricks and I burst into tears right there in the bakery. I could not stop and my body was physically heaving with the pain that I just cannot seem to escape. Adoption truly is painful in a way like no other - you really never can stop mourning the loss of your child because there will never be closure. I am eternally grateful for Keegan's life - I am so blessed that he is being raised in an amazing loving home . . . but it still hurts like hell that it's not our home. We read the letter and looked at the pictures with Kale. He made me smile and want to cry as he looked at the pictures and just kept saying, "Wow! He looks just like me!" After our picture/letter ritual, I hugged Kale so long I think he may have partially fallen asleep in my arms. I pray Keegan knows how much we love him.
