On Friday we got the chance to go up to St. Jude again as an entire family to visit Vivi again. Nathan hadn't gotten to meet her the first time we went to the hospital, so he had been looking forward to his chance. Last week when we had seen her, Vivi was outpatient, meaning she was free to go back to her apartment with her parents after her daily regimen of appointments was complete. But for the past several days, Vivi has been moved back to inpatient as a result of her low counts.
St. Jude is a huge place, and we didn't arrive at Vivi's room before first taking an unintentional tour of much of the hospital - leaving me once again blown away at the attention to detail that has gone in to making it a place that is warm and welcoming instead of sterile and cold. Vivi was asleep through all of our visit this time, but she looked so beautiful and peaceful, I loved just getting to see her sleep. Adrienne played to her little heart's content with all of Vivi's wonderful toys while Marianna discovered something she and Vivi have in common-a love for the Disney movie Ratatouille. It was playing when we walked in, and Marianna had no problem making herself comfortable in the recliner and settling in for the movie.
We enjoyed a wonderful visit while both girls played, and once again I left with a heart full of prayers and love for this family. If you haven't gotten a chance to read her story yet, please go visit Vivi's blog and prepare to have your heart snatched by this beautiful baby girl.
I want to share one more thing. I have continued reading A Family Christmas Treasury each day, and I have been especially struck by the days talking about Jesus the Lamb of God. The rich symbolism surrounding Jesus' birth is lost on me so much of the time, but reading through this book has helped illuminate some of it for me. I read about how Bethlehem, a small, seemingly unimportant little place, was actually an area where shepherds raised the spotless, unblemished lambs to be used for sacrifice in Jerusalem. It was no accident that Jesus, the perfect, spotless Lamb of God was born into this place, knowing that He would one day be the ultimate sacrificial lamb. What a beautiful picture of what Jesus did for us. Nothing was accidental, nothing was happenstance. It was all planned from the beginning of time.
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Dear Angie, Nathan, Adrienne and ESPECIALLY Marianna:
Luce family, I wrote a post on the blog today about the love and support of people who "know who they are," and I wanted to share with you that each of you was foremost in my mind when I wrote.
Angie, I cannot describe to you what a positive force for joy and strength you are in my life. You are a living model of so many of the characteristics of motherhood I aspire to - patience, selflessness, love. Your willingness to become our friends has made an incredible, tangible difference for me.
Marianna, You are a WONDERFUL big sister. Seeing you smile, and play, and be a GOOD GIRL who cares about others, inspires me to be a good girl, and more patient. I hope you can come back to visit with us and paint more again sometime.
Adrienne, We consider you Vivienne's BEST FRIEND, FOREVER. Your visits have made Vivi strive for things that a few weeks ago were out of reach. And seeing your unlimitable JOY IN LIVE, has made me love being Vivienne's mom even MORE.
Nathan, I have only had the opportunity to meet you the once, but you care and strength as a husband, and a father, were obvious from the first second. Daughters who have a good father are the luckiest ladies in the word. Trust me, I know this from experience. Your girls are blessed to have you.
And we can't forget the love my family has for Poppy Joy, although we never had the opportunity to meet her in her short time in this world. We feel her, and the love and strength and good in the world she inspired, in each of her. JOY was a very appropriate part of her name - because I have never met a family with as much joy and as much love as yours.
I hope we can continue to be friends, and to spend time together.
With love, prayers, Christmas joy and best wishes for a happy and healthy new year,
Mary Martin, Justin and VIVIENNE!
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