When I challenged all of our supporters to do a random act of kindness, I knew there would be some feel good stories to come out of it. But, I had no idea that so many of you would go out of your way to honor my triplets and spread joy to strangers. THANK YOU!! For the past week., I’ve been eagerly reading all of your random acts of kindness and I’ve shed plenty of tears of joy because of you. From giving blood to buying someone else’s meal or Starbucks coffee, people sure went out of their way to create kindness.
I could go on and on with how creative and generous people were, but I’ll just share a few. A fellow triplet mom offered to buy gas for a lady. She was hesitant, so the mom told her about my triplets. The lady was moved to tears and gladly accepted. Another lady bought cleats for a high school student. He was also moved to tears when she told him why she was being so generous. And a few of you helped out kids in need by buying school supplies. Now the random acts didn’t have to cost a dime. Several of you took my husband’s lead and donated blood…something that hospital are in need of. A few of you went out of your way to help senior citizens in grocery stores and out shopping. Some baked cookies or gave produce from their garden to neighbors. One lady even donated breast milk to a milk bank since she was out of town and away from her child (Love this!). And a few of you simply prayed. You prayed for others who have endured heartache like my family. I thank you for that very fitting act of kindness. I don’t want to take up all day, so feel free to read through the comments on my Facebook page or on the blog to see how much good was going around last weekend. And trust me, you’ll want to take a gander! The kind gestures have put a permanent grin on my face. And it has made me more conscious about doing little things for others. It’s amazing to see how something as simple as prayer or a Starbucks coffee can make someone’s day!
Parker’s angelversary was definitely emotional. All last week, I was anchoring in the field at the Illinois State Fair. So my mind was occupied for much of the week, filled with fried food and fair activities. Ryan and I had a really special weekend. We started the anniversary with our normal Saturday routine…a trip to our favorite breakfast diner. We found a family with three small children and picked up their tab. Ryan donated blood and then we picked up the tab for the man behind us at Starbucks.
Our afternoon was spent visiting the place where Parker passed away: the Nicu at St. John’s Children’s Hospital in Springfield. We wanted to give a special donation in honor of Parker and Abby. A few weeks ago, we decided on donating children’s books. Because we could barely touch P&P early on, we would read books through their isolette doors. So this seemed like the perfect way to pay tribute. We had planned on buying enough for all 30-40 babies to take home. But our simple wish turned into a much bigger project! I mentioned our plans to friends and family and was blown away by how many people wanted to send us books. All said and done, we’ll be giving away more than 200 books. Most will go home with families, but some of our favorites will stay in a “book nook” in the Nicu.
Each book has a simple message inside, “In Memory Of Parker & Abby”. I’ve even received a few emails and pictures from current families thanking me for the books. So thank you to my generous family and friends for helping us remember my two angels. Peyton was a ham that day, flirting with the doctors and yapping up a storm with her nurses. We hope to make this book donation a yearly tradition!
At Parker’s time of death, we lit two candles in honor of P & A. We lit a third candle for one of my friends, and fellow triplet moms. She lost her son and the funeral was held on Parker’s anniversary. My heart goes out to her family. I went through much of the heartache and grief she is dealing with, almost a year to the date. I’m glad my Abby and Parker were there to greet her son with big hugs and plenty of baby babble. I imagine the triplets having a wonderful time playing together in Heaven!
As Ryan put Peyton to bed that night, he snapped a beautiful picture. He captured Peyton looking out the window at the stars…I’m sure looking for her brother and sister.
Before I go, I want to share a gift I received this week. The same gal that made P&P’s darling hats last year, sent me the sweetest gift. This is Peyton’s new hat for the fall/winter. As Katie wrote in a card, she made a hat for the upcoming Oregon Ducks football season. “The yellow is because it’s a color Peyton always wears. The green is what I used to make Parker’s football hat. And the multi color is for Abby, for the colors in her memory pinwheel. The butterfly is to remind Peyton that they are always with her.” Need a tissue? I sure did! Thank you Katie for this beautiful gift. I can’t wait to share a picture this fall of Miss P sporting it!
Reader Interactions
Comments
Trackbacks
-
[…] wanted to start a tradition in honor of our two angels, Parker and Abby, I never imagined that our random act of kindness would be coming full circle. Last summer, we decided to donate children’s books to our local […]
-
[…] It doesn’t really matter what we do, whether I go all out with decorations or just a simple party. It’s all about Peyton and that’s the reason we are bringing friends and family together. She deserves to be celebrated for the little girl she has become, and I have no doubt, Peyton will LOVE to be the center of attention. As I start planning her party, I remind myself it’s ok to be a bit sad. As we sing Happy Birthday to Peyton the tears will most certainly form, but it’s ok. I know I won’t be alone. While we celebrate Miss P in Illinois, Abby and Parker will be celebrating in Heaven. And of course, we have found little ways to make their presence known at Peyton’s party. Peyton has so many toys. So instead of gifts for P, we are asking friends to bring a children’s book to be donated to our local Nicu in honor of our angels. It’s something we started last year and we want to make it a yearly tradition. […]
I am eager to read each blog update and I gave a friend who was hunting for a new wallet on of mine she had admired in honor of the triplets however i find the black and white zig zags makes reading your blog stressful trying to read black on black is not easy for us grandmotherly types just a thought but it is a story that many can learn from.
Hi Marilyn! Thanks for doing such a sweet random act of kindness! I thought we had the blog issues figured out last week, but we must not. So sorry! I’m having issues with the company who hosts the website…so I’ll be looking at a few different options. If it happens again, let me know and I can email you the blog writing.
I also look forward to every time you blog on your awesome children. Mondays will never be dreaded as I watch for the pretty Peyton news. I cannot read your last postings due to the zigzag background. Any way you can forward the writing to me? Thanks so much!
HI!I love reading your posts.What a wonderful tribute to the triplets.I love the book idea.
hugs
jane
Hi, I can not read the blog with the black and white black ground. I think it is wonderful on giving the books. I enjoy your blog so much, just sorry I could not read it today. God Bless.
I loved your blog and especially the story on the hat. What a very thoughtful person…
You and your husband are just wonderful people I have every heard of. Our country need more people like you too. Peyton is one little girl has the world wanted to hear how she is doing. Give her kisses and hugs for me.
What a great blog! It is so heart warming to know there are so many good people out there that are so kind and giving. Just when you hear all the disturbing news about bad people and fighting and killing then someone comes along to make you realize “Everyone” is not like that. Enjoy your blog and the adorable pictures. You are truely blessed with your family. God Bless each of you in the days and years to come. Thanks for All the great blogs and pics. She is a doll!
love all the beautiful coments and pay it forward I gave cars the right away
I too was unable to read the blog with the black and white background, I finally gave up.
Sorry Barb. We thought we had the issue figured out, but I’ll have to take another look.
My heart goes out to you and your family. I work with a fellow triplet mom that you know. Always sending prayers for your family. Bless you all.
Thank you for sharing Parker’s angelversary. Love the pic of Peyton looking out the window. She is talking and looking for her 2 stars that are there every night. Prayers, thoughts and hugs. Please let me know if there is ever anything I can do.
Stacey I didn’t get a chance to post my act of kindness in time but I would like to share it with you now. I read a post on Facebook from a fellow NICU mom that she needed breast milk for her daughter who was born with her internal organs in her umbilical cord. Her daughter like mine, also had to have heart surgery recently due to three holes in her heart which deemed her failure to thrive due to the lack of weight gain. Well I have tones of milk still stored at the hospital, (at 30 cals) so I was able to provide her a whole bag of milk for her beautiful daughter. This I offer in honor of your three little angels. Thank you for being an inspiration of hope, love, and strength;)