Whilst in hospital, we bought Alexa a memory box wherein we kept all of her personal belongings. Little hats, books, teddy bears, photos, etc.  Keeping in mind that one day she might want to learn more about her time in neonatal.

Tonight we sat down going through everything, this bringing back wonderful but also extremely painful memories.  For the first time in a long time I noticed the writing on her memory box and I remembered that it was of great importance to us.  As it represented the way we would have liked to raise Alexa.

Our family rules (I would rather say values)

Remember to say I LOVE YOU

Give hugs

Say please & thank you

Be kind, dream big and laugh often

Always tell the truth

Play nice work hard

Love one another

Love always

Laugh out load every day

Be grateful & be generous

Think of others

Count your blessings

Luckily the neonatal staff at William Harvey Hospital were very encouraging.  I worry that other parents might not have the same opportunity.  We only have today and never know what the future holds.  Every second is a gift…

We are so fortunate that we have Alexa’s keepsakes, not necessarily to remember her by but to feel closer to her and drawing strength from it.

For parents experiencing bereavement, having memory boxes, photo albums & diaries to read, look at, touch and even smell are wonderful healing tools.  Also when the time is right making scrapbooks can really help with the healing process.