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Dear Sandra

September 30, 2010 in Dave's Musings, Tay Sachs with 2 Comments

As a way to honor Carmen and the impact she’s had on our lives, we sponsored another little girl living in Guatemala. Here is the note Lauren wrote to this four-year old:

Dear Sandra,

My name is Lauren and I am six years old. I love sponsoring kids. I like to help. I like to play with dolls just like you. My younger sister is from Guatemala and she was exactly one month older than you and she had the same name as you, Sandra. My younger sister, Sandra, died when she was four. I have a new sister who is seven months old. Her name is Hope. My sister, Sandra, had a disease that made her go to Heaven.

Love,

Lauren

Carmen’s birth name was Sandra. However, there is already a Sandra (Sandy) on Lana’s side of the family so we changed her name to Carmen during the adoption process. We kept “sandra” in her middle name, making it Alesandra.

We like World Vision but Compassion is also a very good organization. Did you know that you can make a huge difference in the life of another child for $35 a month?

Final Post About Carmen’s Funeral

September 17, 2010 in Dave's Musings with 4 Comments

We’re sure that you tired of all the posts about Carmen’s funeral service so this will be the last one. Before we move on, we thought we’d include one summary post that can be a reference going forward. So here it is, the post that includes the full-length funeral service video as well as videos for each key segment individually.

Video: He Never Lets Go

Song: Our God Is In Control, performed by Kerri Kuiters

Carmen’s Eulogy, written and communicated by Wes Coddington

Video: Letter to Carmen, written and communicated by Tina Lutz

Song: How Great Thou Art, performed by Lauren Taylor

Pastoral Message, prepared and communicated by Dr. Frank Pedreira

Video Slide Show: With Hope

Note For Carmen, written and communicated by Lauren Coddington

Moving on now. Thanks for your patience!

Painful Enjoyment

September 15, 2010 in Dave's Musings, Everyday Family, Tay Sachs with 7 Comments

For quite awhile after Carmen was diagnosed, we still did lots of things like going to the park as a family. But as time passed and Tay Sachs, AB Variant took over more and more of her body, Carmen became increasingly agitated by the simplest of movements. Toward the end of Carmen’s life, we only moved her when it was necessary because even a subtle shift of her body produced moans of discomfort.

It’s hard to believe that Carmen has been gone for a month. We miss her greatly.

Yet here we are, again able to enjoy things like a normal family. Simple things like going to the park. Together. It is a painful. It is enjoyable. Yes, both at the same time.

With Hope

September 13, 2010 in Dave's Musings, Tay Sachs with 5 Comments

This is not at all how
We thought it was supposed to be
We had so many plans for you
We had so many dreams
And now you’ve gone away
And left us with the memories of your smile
And nothing we can say
And nothing we can do
Can take away the pain
The pain of losing you, but …

Slide show set to the song “With Hope” by Steven Curtis Chapman:

We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
‘Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no…
We wait with hope
And we ache with hope
We hold on with hope
We let go with hope

Letter to Carmen: Revised

September 12, 2010 in Dave's Musings, Tay Sachs with 5 Comments

Letter to Carmen

Right after Carmen died, Tina re-recorded herself reading her letter to Carmen. She updated it to reflect the current reality, that God chose not heal Carmen here on Earth, that He had a different plan for her and us.

Here is the revised version that we showed at Carmen’s funeral:

Since the video of Carmen’s funeral service is so long, we’ll be posting individual segments over the next few weeks.

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