She wasn’t the first person I had watched die in the hospital. And I figured she wouldn’t be the last. But she was definitely the youngest.

And the most like me.

It didn’t help that we lost her unborn baby 2 days earlier and we couldn’t provide answers to tough questions such as: “Why did her heart stop beating?” or “What could we have done to prevent this?”

We had no idea.

As her husband stood there and struggled with heartbreaking questions about withdrawing care, I realized he was wearing a hat just like Brandon’s.

When I got home from work that night, I cried when Brandon hugged me. Creighton was already in bed, but was fussing, so I took the opportunity to hold him for a little while. The tears fell for a few minutes…

And I was thankful for everything that I usually take for granted.