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Annie
Annie McKinley-Russell
Annie

My first Grandchild

On May, 11, 2016, my first Grandchild, Gavin was born. He arrived 28 days early and was diagnosed with Trisomy 13. He lived approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes. His Dad which is my eldest son and his wife made each and every moment last as if a lifetime. They bathed and dressed him, read to him, prayed to him, sang to him, had him baptized, and most of all....held him and told him how much they loved him. Even though we, as grandparents knew ahead of time the predetermined diagnosis he had, we prayed that he would survive long enough to know us and moreso, know how much he is loved and God blessed us with both: our precious Grandson Gavin and the priceless gift of time. Just to witness the heartache and sorrow is difficult to put into words. It effected us even moreso as grandparents, as I had almost lost my son when he was born so to say memories flooded my mind is to say the least. As I held Gavin one last time before handing him to his Dad, I whispered in his ear telliing him how I love him so, and asked him to watch over us from his Heavenly home, and even though he never opened his eyes, I felt his understood. The days following his death were so very difficult, emotions ran wild and the saddness was so deeply pronouced and it was difficult to get back to any kind of a daily routine. I was on my way to a doctor's appointment one day shortly after his death and as I frequently do, was praying in my car and I began to sob as I prayed to Gavin and I asked him for strength and courage to continue on and within a few moments the white clouds that filled the sky above me, began to swirl and formed the perfect siloette of an angel and a ray of sunshine flowed from this formation directly down onto my car. I was so in awe that I immediately pulled over to the side of the road and took out my phone and began taking photos of the image. I then began to feel this immense warmth come over me as if being cradled by giant arms. And, I knew at that moment it was Gavin telling me, "I'm safe now Grandma. I'm in God's arms and everything is going to be okay and I'll always watch over you always." The tears somehow just stopped and I began to smile and then blew a kiss to the Heaven and said, "Grandma loves you too baby." At that moment, the clouds swirled and went upward toward Heaven. Every since that day, the day I witnessed a miracle, Gavin has shown his presence to me three additional times. The power of God and all his blessings is beyond words and I am so very proud and thankful that I have faith and that I will forever believe...