Lose a Child & Gain a Family
On a night like any other night back in October of 2015 my husband and I are sound asleep until we get a knock on our door at 3:30 am. Probably left the garage door open or something, its happened before. Not this time. This time police officers hand us a little piece of paper with two names and two phone numbers saying we need to contact one of them about our daughter. Door closes.
First phone call was to a detective and second phone call was to the provost at the university our daughter attended. I remember words like no signs of foul play, no signs of self injury from the detective in a kind and sympathetic voice. More than anything I don’t recall much of the conversation with the provost because to this day all I can hear from that conversation is a compassion unlike any I have ever heard. As hard as it was to hear him tell me about my daughter, I feel it must have been as equally hard for him to tell us that kind of news. I pray he never has to make a phone call like that again.
Several hours later Kevan and I arrive in Tempe. The provost is there to greet us. Plans for the week are already being put in motion to honor our daughter. The UAT Foundation establishes a scholarship in our daughters name, since our daughter was two semesters away from graduating the school gave her an honorary degree, students are leaving messages on a roll of butcher paper, professors are turning over assignments and things that our daughter had done in their class for us to take and keep, hair dying event, memorial service, private family tour of the school and more. We were treated like royalty.
I can’t really remember how many days we were in Tempe but we came home once we could get Brook home. I would continue to hear from the school at least once a month about donations that had come in for the scholarship. Seven months after our daughters death the school invited us to come out for the graduation and walk across the stage in our daughters honor. A friendship had already started to grow. It didn’t stop there. The school has made sure our daughter will never be forgotten. A Legacy Leadership Award in our daughters name is given out each semester, cards and gifts at birthdays and holidays began to be exchanged. Even today at the graduation ceremony as I watched from two states away the provost gave a shout out to my husband and I.
Our youngest daughter impacted the lives of so many in her 19 years on this earth. We lost a daughter and it is a piece of us that will forever be gone and can never be filled or replaced. Through the loss of our daughter we gained a beautiful family. They are smart, kind, fun and have hearts of gold. We will always love and support them and enjoy the opportunities we have to go and visit. God is so good. #unimaginable#faithfilled
