Grace

Today, Sydney Grace would have been one month old. We have all been through a roller coaster of emotions over this past month. I can say it has been the best and worst month of my life. The best, because we had Sydney Grace twenty more days than we ever thought we would have. The worst, because I have had to bury a child.

When I first found out about Sydney Grace having Trisomy 18, I really did not want to look online about the disorder or even about other T18 babies. I just could not bring myself to do it. My sister found lots of information and would share it with me, but I was not ready to look for myself. Even up until Sydney was born, I did not view many things online. Now that Sydney has passed, I feel like my purpose is to find out more about Trisomy 18 and read about other families experiences. This is what fills my days. I spend countless hours looking at other blogs and working on Sydney’s. My new goal is to make as many people aware about Trisomy 18 as possible. I know when I found out about Sydney, I had never heard of T18. I had no clue what it meant.

Now that I have been spending so much time working on Sydney Grace’s blog, I have noticed something. It is no great discovery, but it is interesting. There is a large number of T18 girls with their first or middle name being Grace. Why is that? I know that we decided on Sydney Grace’s name before we even found about her having T18. We named her Grace in honor of her great grandmother, Grace Fodrie. I have always loved the name. Joel and I have been married for almost ten years, and we always have said if we ever have a girl, Grace will be part of her name. So why are there so many other girls with the name, Grace. I know it is a popular name, but I think there is more to it.

In Sydney Grace’s obituary, Aly Dart wrote this:
Sydney Grace's life has been a true testament of the power of prayer and the grace of a loving Father in Heaven. "Grace" has been defined as, "A divine means of help or strength given through the love and mercy of Jesus Christ." How fitting for this angel who has certainly allowed all within her reach to feel the love and mercy of Jesus Christ, to be named Sydney Grace. In times of weakness, she has given strength to her family. Because of her life, thousands have been brought to their knees in prayer. She has reminded us all of the words of our Savior in Matthew 19:14, "But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

These special children do have a purpose. I know before Sydney was born, we really did not know what the reason was for her having Trisomy 18. Through Sydney Grace’s twenty days she touched thousands of people all over the world. She brought people closer to God through prayer. So many have shared with me how they have never prayed more than now, because of Sydney. My cousin, Corey, shared something with me at Sydney’s wake. He said “Sydney has made me want to be a better person.” That is the reason for Sydney Grace coming into this world.

It is no mistake that so many of these T18 babies have the name Grace. They have shown so many how to feel the love and mercy of Jesus Christ.


Thank you to Melanie, Noah, and Stephen from Chesapeake, VA. Joel, Rafe, and I went to Sydney's grave today. We found a little cherub at her grave from these wonderful people that we have never met. Sydney truly has touched so many.