No parent should have to go through this

This has been one of the most heartbreaking, depressing weeks of my life. Monday I got a message from the father of one of my best friends from high school. Her 1-year-old baby girl had passed away on Saturday. When I heard the message, my heart jumped into my throat and the tears started to flow. Why did this beautiful baby girl leave this world so soon? After getting myself together, I called him back. It turned out that while giving her a bath, her father stepped out of the bathroom for a minute to get something. You can probably figure out the rest.

Amber and I were very close in high school and beyond. She was a bridesmaid in my first wedding. She was the first one there when I was going though my divorce. She and I were out together the night that I ran into my husband and danced with him for the first time. We've grown apart, as friends often do, over the past several years. She moved to North Carolina a few years ago. She's always held a special place in my heart, though. She and her family moved back from North Carolina in October. While we talked a little on Facebook, we never took the time to get together to reconnect. I'd never met her two small children, and she'd never met Maya. I thought to myself often that I needed to arrange a get-together, but never got around to it.

Time and distance don't matter. When you love someone, whether they are family or friend, they will always hold a special place in your heart. The death of my friend's precious baby girl reminded me of that. I love my friend, and the pain and grief that she's suffering right now hurts my heart more than I could have imagined. I spend time every day hugging my beautiful baby girl, thanking God for her while at the same time mourning for my friend who will never again get to hold her baby girl. Life is so fleeting. No parent should have to suffer what my friend is suffering right now. I just pray that she will find peace.