Dear Teresa-Sisters

Dear Teresa,

Before we adopted you, we had a family meeting. From all of your medical records we were unsure how long God would share you with us.  We asked all of your brothers and sisters how they felt.   They were all  unanimous in that they wanted to love you and have  you for  their sister for however long God would share you with us. 

For almost three years God shared you with  us.   We laughed, pretended we were princesses, swam, dreamed of riding your bike one day without wearing oxygen, played family all the time with Gemma ( of course you were always the Mom and Gemma the Dad), you looked at the pink clouds in the sky and thought Jesus put them there just for you, you picked more flowers than I can count( always giving one to me saying "Here Mama, just for you because I love you ",  you loved exploring new adventures like roasting marshmallows, fishing or catching lightning bugs.  But most of all you just loved to be home.  You were a home body and never liked being away too long.  You also loved your family and every one of your sisters and brothers.

Since you have gone to heaven your sisters have missed you dearly.  For the three years that you were their sister here on  Earth you showed them how to love unconditionally, accept others with differences, love "your Jesus" and to be so grateful for having a family.  Now that you are in Heaven you are still teaching them so much .  Daddy and I comfort them as they are grieving and I can't help but think that in losing you ,  they have learned so much . Yes , their hearts are broken but their hearts have grown so big by being broken.  They are different now.  You were always different , you were a very old soul.  Now their souls are becoming like yours. This is a tremendous gift that you

have given them since you have gone to heaven..  They know compassion on a whole different level now.  Their faith in "your Jesus" has grown.

I know sweet baby girl that you sent an angel to help make your sisters smile again.  Her name is Amy and she is the founder of The Joy-Hope Foundation. Amy knows the deep sorrow of losing a child, she has lost two.   In her dear children's memory she has started this amazing foundation to help other families that have lost a child.  She knows how important it is to create new memory making getaways for families and to help their children smile again.    We asked all of your sissies what they would like to do to bring a smile back to their faces.   It was very easy for Gemma,  she wants to give Belle (your favorite Princess) a picture of you and a Tiara.  I am praying Little T that you will give me the strength to do this.  It will be VERY hard for me to see Belle without you.  The other girls gave it a lot of thought and they all agreed that they would like to go back to Give Kids The World and volunteer and help make other families smile.  I know you remember how much happiness you had at GKTW on your Make a Wish trip.  You had a week full of shear joy , not worrying about Doctors or any pain.  Your every dream came true.  You had ice cream for breakfast, your nails painted a different shade of pink EVERY day , princess tattoos, endless rides on the Merry go Round and you even got to see Santa!   See how much you have changed all of your sisters hearts.  They are able to love more all because of you.  Having you as their sister has made them better people.  You were a gift to us all.

Thank you God for sharing Teresa with us.

" When I look into your eyes, I know there is a God.  Human compassion and the capacity to love are not the result of mere chance."-Charles W. Gerdts