Rest In Peace

We arrived at the mortuary on Friday, Oct. 15, 2010 at 9:00 am.  Sofia was in a separate room so that Tim & I could see her first.  They warned us that she didn't look good.  He said they had their best mortician working on her all night but said it may be upsetting.  We were so worried about what we would see but didn't care.  She definitely didn't look like the girl we said good-bye to at the hospital, but we still thought she looked ok to have an open casket.  For me there is closure in seeing the deceased and I knew that would be the case for many of our family & friends too.  We figured if someone didn't want to see her they didn't have to look.  I did wish that everyone could have seen her the way we did, in the hospital, but it is what it is.  We talked to her and kissed her cold head and cried.  We felt she was in heaven and not really there anymore but it was nice to see her body again.

From Slideshow

From Slideshow

They brought her into the room where the service was held.  A black and white photo of her was setup above her casket and she was surrounded by beautiful flowers.  I gave her a black hills gold ring with a rose on it.  I had it since I was younger and it now fits my pinky.  I would have given her that when she grew older but since I won't see her grow up, it was rightfully hers.  I placed the ring on her tiny finger.

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Our immediate families arrived to view Sofia & say good-bye before the viewing officially began at 10:00 am.

The arrival of family & friends was overwhelming.  So many people came to show their support and to see our baby girl.  It was especially overwhelming to see people that we least expected to be there.  It really meant a lot to us.  I think we held it together pretty well, but we had already cried so many tears that we were just drained.

The service started at 11:00 am and it was very nice.  I don't remember a lot of what was said.  I was numb.  I mostly thought of Sofia during that time and how I dreaded saying good-bye one last time.  They played the song we chose, "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", and we said our good-byes.  My dad placed a white rose in her casket before saying his good-bye.

Tim wanted to be the one to carry her to the limo, so we gave her kisses, said good-bye, placed a lady bug toy with her and they closed her casket.  I was supposed to go out to the car but couldn't.  I wanted to walk out with Tim & Sofia.  We do everything together and it didn't seem right to walk separately.  We walked out and all our friends & family were there as the three of us got in the car.

The drive was a short one over to Calvary Cemetery, where she was laid to rest.  The day was bright and sunny.  Father John said prayers, handed us the cross he blessed and everyone placed rose petals around her casket.

The sad irony was that this date (Oct. 15th) is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. http://www.october15th.com/

Next year we plan to attend the ceremony in Omaha and hope that all of our family & friends will join us to remember Sofia Rose.