How Georgie changed my life

I never got to meet Georgie. He passed away in utero at 34 weeks, just a few weeks before my sister and brother-in-law expected to meet him. I’ll never forget the weight of that crushing loss—the realization we wouldn’t get to know their sweet baby boy on earth.

Even though we never knew him personally though, Georgie is so important to me—and to our family. He changed how I view pregnancies and how much I celebrate the lives of those babies we’re waiting for long before they are born. I like to think I never took a new baby for granted, but after losing Georgie, I am over the moon about the arrival of a new little life.

Georgie changed how I look at my children. I am in awe of every day with my sons, but especially because I wasn’t there with them during those earliest days of their lives, I feel incredibly grateful that they were truly surrounded by love and care.

Even from heaven, Georgie is very much a part of our family. We remember Georgie in all kinds of ways, at all kinds of moments. Whenever we talk about how many cousins there are, we talk about Georgie. Now and then, my sons ask me how old he would be now—and we stop and do the math.

I marvel at how old he would be.

This year, we mark his tenth anniversary. I can’t believe it has been 10 years since Georgie passed away. If Georgie were with us today, he would be looking up to my teen sons and laughing at his Uncle John’s jokes. He would be the oldest in his family, maybe devouring books even faster than his 9-year-old sister. I would be trying to figure out his latest interests so we could get him just the right gift for his birthday.

Time speeds on as we move toward eternity.

One beautiful belief in our Catholic faith is that at the Consecration all the souls in heaven are united to us. At that moment, as the priest lifts the Eucharist into the air, I marvel at how Jesus gave us himself. When I think of the people I love who are in heaven, my mind often goes to Georgie.

I like to think that he’s there with others we love who have gone on ahead of us. I wonder what that celebration looks like—with all the friends and family members who have known us.

Sometimes I think about people I’ve known that I miss, especially as we prepare to begin November, the month of All Souls. Then I think of Georgie. It might seem surprising that you can miss someone you never knew. But somehow I feel we do know him. Just as I’ve told our children from the time they were very young, he is our special friend in heaven. And one day we will see him again.

We love you, Georgie.

Also see:

Georgie’s Story: Choosing life when the prognosis is death

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