At Tyler’s birthday party last month, I lost my train of thought in emotion and messed up my story, so wanted to redeem myself with my Tyler story. Tyler texted me in late July to see if she could come visit and meet my son Capson in Rocky Mount on her way to Nags Head for family vacation. I was so excited to see her since it had been a while, and told her to please come ANYTIME EXCEPT 2-4 since I would be at a baby shower. Knowing Tyler, what do you think she did? She tried to come at 2.. of course. I laughed it off knowing it was Tyler, and that I’d see her another time. When I learned of the incident, I kicked myself over and over again for not just skipping the baby shower to see her, but who would’ve known… and I couldn’t change the past. I’m sure many of you have had these “I wish I had seen her one last time” moments. The night of her death, as I was rocking my son to sleep, I truly felt her with us.. and since then, I have felt her with me in many moments. There is a new hummingbird in my backyard that started greeting me the day after her death and every couple of days. The hummingbird, among many other beautiful moments in nature I’m now noticing, is Tyler’s way of reminding me to take in every wonderful thing around me, to enjoy each day and to TRY to not sweat the small stuff (not always easy for me, but good to try!). Yesterday, a month after Tyler’s death, we had to make the tough decision of putting our sweet golden retriever Pritchard to sleep. I find comfort in knowing that Tyler greeted him in heaven and that he will provide HER great joy and companionship in swimming and climbing the beautiful mountains of heaven. Tyler, thank you for the wonderful childhood memories, and now, for the beautiful reminders of living life to the fullest.