In life there are those moments where it feels like everything around us is falling apart. Sometimes they are only a small fall and other times we biffed the big one.

The worst time for me, as anyone can imagine, was during those sixteen long days while Mari lay in a hospital bed deteriorating in front of me. My world began to crumble with every turn for the worse that happened to her. No matter how hard we hoped or prayed, our little girl continued to get worse. E. coli is no joke and should always be taken seriously for how quickly it can take the health, and sometimes the life, of those we love. For us, the unfortunate reality is it in the end took our beloved daughter’s life.

I still remember being at the cemetery for the internment as I watched them roll her away to the vehicle that would drive her away to her final resting place. I rushed to the casket, lay my hand on it and just cried. Our daughter was gone. No amount of prayer or wishful thinking would bring her back. The life that once light up a room now lay in a casket getting ready to be buried in the ground never to be seen again a day on this earth.

As I walked away my legs felt like they crumbled beneath me and I fell to a heap on the ground. All I could do was sob over the loss of my only child, my little girl who my life had revolved around for the past 8 1/2 years. My life had forever changed in a way I never thought could possibly happen to me. Yet, there is sat in a heap missing my little girl.

So, yes, I fell apart, and it was the hardest thing, and still is, to have happened in my life. However, through it all, God has been there to put the pieces slowly but surely back together. I know I’d not be okay if it wasn’t for His strength that helped me to be where I am today.