A Lasting Memory of Emily

Going through a stack of papers recently I discovered a bunch of baby freebies that companies send out: coupons and literature. As I was sorting through it and throwing most of it away I found a $20 gift card from Shutterfly, that had not expired yet. I did think about just tossing it, then I had an idea, why not use it to print out some pictures of Emily and even some recent pictures of Maddie too.

I logged on to Shutterfly and then had another idea; I could make a photo book of all the pictures that we have of Emily. I ordered it last week and it should be here today. It turned out so beautiful, now I will always have all of Emily's pictures in one place. I am so excited to get the book.

I also ordered some 4x6 pictures of Emily and Maddie. Several weeks ago I found a great deal on frames (see my happy list from two weeks ago) and had some great plans to use those frames to put up some pictures. The pictures arrived in the mail on Saturday and yesterday I decided to get the pictures in the frames and hung on the wall.

With the help of my husband we got three frames, with nine pictures total hung yesterday. One frame has pictures of Emily, one the other two have pictures of Maddie, both past and present. Looking at the wall with all the pictures on it makes me so happy. I just smile every time I look at the pictures of our two girls.

These were the first pictures we have framed of Emily and I can't wait to get a few more frames and hang more pictures of her up.
I always thought that looking back at pictures of a dead child would be difficult and would make things worse. I even avoided looking at the pictures I have of Emily in the first week because I thought it would be too hard. However, I have discovered that I feel the complete opposite. Since Emily's death I have actually found healing through looking at the few pictures we have of her and remembering her short life.