This blog is a space for me to write, post pictures and share videos of my family. I am on a great adventure and I honestly have no idea what God has in store for me. I thought I knew ~ my life was enjoyably chaotic. We live every day to its fullest and we love one another unconditionally. On Oct. 20th, 2013 our lives were turned upside down and because of that I’ve decided to (with help from a dear friend) create this space to express myself to the best of my ability and share our lives with you. I have decided to make this blog public with the option to make specific post private. Thank you for respecting that there are topics that are personal for only close friends and family.
October 20, 2013
October 20th was a normal Fall Sunday at our house. We woke up, ate breakfast (waffles that Anna helped me make), went to church, came home and ate lunch. Abigail had her first Annie rehearsal that afternoon and I was volunteering at the theater for the current performance. Tom and Anna spent the day playing and hanging out at the park.
After Abigail’s rehearsal the girls played great together. Fighting had been their new norm but for some reason on this Sunday they were the best of friends: laughing, listening to music, playing spies and dancing around the house.
After volunteering at the theater I walked up our street only to be greeted by 2 young girls dressed as spies. They knew I was on my way home so they thought it would be fun to spy on me as I walked up the street. Unfortunately for them, I saw their heads peek around a tree almost immediately. I played along and then they came running down the street laughing, smiling and excited to see me. I hugged and kissed them both, excited to see them too.
Anna was so full of energy and after our hug, kiss and brief description of her day she ran all the way back to the house. Abigail stuck close and told me all about her first Annie rehearsal. It was a perfect Fall day.
I had some other theater obligations that night so we ate dinner together as a family and said our goodbyes. Life was perfect, wonderful and we were so blessed.
In just a few short hours our beautiful life took a turn.
Due to a terrible accident in front of our house both of our girls went to Heaven. Anna went to Heaven instantly and Abigail was life flighted to Randall’s Children’s Hospital in Portland. Abigail went to Heaven shortly after arriving at the hospital, but before she went, she was able to donate both her kidneys, her liver, and one cornea. Her pulmonary valve and conduit were distributed to a pediatric hospital in California and her aorta has produced 13 million vascular cells which have the potential to generate over 50 vascular grafts.
On Oct. 20, 2013 my girls met Jesus and one day I will meet him too and be with my girls again. Until that time I will listen to God and do as he nudges me to do, love recklessly and spread as much joy as I can in honor of Anna and Abigail. I miss them more than words could possibly describe and I look forward to the day we all embrace in Heaven.
Why Love-Drenched Life
When asked to make a statement regarding our daughters accident, we put together a stream of words that came from how we felt about our life as parents and how important it was to live intentionally. After prayer, our dear friend Brenda took our words and wrote a beautiful statement for the press. She wrote that our lives were Love Drenched. Thank you, Brenda for choosing the perfect words that described how we lived every day.
love-drenched-life.com 
It takes a remarkable amount of courage to even want to go on living when parents lose their young children by death. I recall my daughter having a very special spiritual connection to her and her husbands’ American friends living in Prague. As I sat at a statewide conference asPresident of the group sponsoring this conference of 600 teachers, I received the message from my daughter that their friends in Prague had just lost their 8 year old daughter as she had been hit by a truck walking home from school–it had been the first day the parents had trusted her to walk home from school without them. I sent my daughter a book of HOPE to gveto these parents as my daughter dropped everything and flew to their home in Prague to support them. They had not eaten for days and it was all they could do to support their 6 month old child who needed them. Years later my daughter who is highly spiritual had a dream in which the deceased daughter told her she had entered Heaven and was very happy there. The little girl asked my daughter to please share with her parents the fact that she never saw the truck coming that killed her so she had had no fear. God gives us these blessings as our grief is sometimes insurmountable. I cray whenever I read these stories as I recall the book “The Shack” which all encompasses our spiritual existence as Heaven IS real!
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I wandered here in curiosity from another blog and have hung around to read some of your story. I’m filled with admiration and wish you much joy on the journey ahead. 🙂
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I know that you must have already thought of this…I hope that Anna’s and Abby’s playground will have a swing and playground for kids with disabilities.
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Wow! Susan you are such a child of God, even with such loss and grief you are showing us his love! Bless you and your loved ones, thank you for sharing through your beautiful children and your witness😌
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Thank you Dee for your message. All of my strength comes directly from God…without Him I’m not sure where I would be.
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Hugs to you. Such beautiful girls. I, too, look forward to the day when we will see our son again…
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Thank You for personally handing me your Love Rock today Susan…. I came home from a long day at work and could wait to check out your Website… Just know Everything is going to be Ok:)) I have been really trying to find my way back to The Child of God I was meant to be… Before an abusive 26 year long marriage, Before The World Swayed my Precious Children to Stray from our Lords Teachings to Love one another and Folliw Him In all His ways…….
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I found a love rock and I am so sorry for what happened
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What an incredibly brave woman you are. Thank you for reminding us what life is all about and for sharing your beautiful family and daughters with us. There are no words for me to say. I know the depth of grief and loss as well. Your words and actions are so very inspiring and will touch many lives. We must make the best of the time we have. Prayers of comfort and peace…
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Thank you for your message Daphne…it means a lot. Sending you love and prayers as well.
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Daphne I just read through your blog and saw that we really do have a lot in common. Hopefully our paths will cross someday…seems like we could sit over coffee and talk for hours ❤ love and joy to you!
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How brave God is making you. What a deeply moving story. God is powerfully using you to touch the lives of others. I too have see tragedy, and though I cannot know your pain, my deepest sympathies are with you. Grief is a journey, taken in small steps, forward and back, like a dance. May God cover you in the comforting shadow of His wings. Lean on Him. Sending a hug and prayers.
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I am comforted everyday by Him and I am sending you hugs and prayers as well ❤
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🙏❤️🌹🌟😊
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Thank you so much for share your story, I work in a hotel and a co worker found a love rock sitting on the elevator floor she brough it to the office as a nice little cute rock so i was courious about it and went to the web and found an amazing think like this, sometimes this stories touch our life in a diffrent ways.
should i do the same with the rock to other people found it ?
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It’s up to you Hector..if you feel moved to keep it then do that. If you would like to share it then pass it along. You can also my the supplies and make some yourself and share those. Thank you for your message…hope this helps. ; )
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Today I didn’t think I would get out of bed. I’m overwhelmed and have a heavy burden on my heart. I had a miscarriage in December. I’ve never felt as whole as I did when I was pregnant and now I’m empty and lost and falling way behind on everything in life. Then I read your blog and about the love you and your husband have been sharing through love rocks….for Anna and Abigail. Tears filled my eyes but not for my loss I’ve had but for happiness and joy I felt in my heart from what you’ve been doing. Thank you for reminding of the light and inspiring me to love and for making me feel loved. Kids have always been everything to me, the make the world a better place. I can’t imagine what you go through everyday. Your strength, love and community work is unbelievable. Your like an angel of the earth….here to give us hope when all is lost. Thank you.
Blessings, Love and light
Fawn
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Thank you so much Fawn for your kinds words. If it was up to me I would be in bed all day long. My strength comes from God and he provides me with a peace that surpasses all understanding. I’m not sure where I would be without His love and kindness. Anna loved babies, LOVED babies, and I like to think that her job in Heaven is to hold those babies whose life here on earth was short. Maybe she holds your baby ~ I love that thought. Sending you lots of love and prayers Fawn.
Susan
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I just found your website and have been thinking today of a much loved baby we lost this spring at twelve weeks gestation. It’s not the same, not even close to your experience, but I love that your heart is so big you can give me the picture of your Anna loving and holding the baby we never got to meet. I trust God has a grand plan and I cannot see it now as I will one day see. Holding you in my heart with love, Sarah
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Thank you Sarah for your message. I have no doubt your little one was held in Heaven by a very nurturing soul…possibly even my Anna. God does have a plan and our job is to just trust him ❤ even when it's really really hard. Sending love and prayers to you.
Susan
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After a Thanksgiving weekend at Stone Mountain my husband and 2 young sons stopped at McDonalds for a biscuit just outside of the park. We found one of your rocks sitting beside the drink fountain. I lost my sister in a car accident when I was 12 – I am now 43. I am loosing my father to ALS now and wish I had her to go through this journey as I feel so alone when it comes to loosing my dad – our dad. This rock could not have appeared at a better time for me – it makes me realize that I am not alone in heartbreak and loss and to try and focus on the good and the time you have with those you love. Thank you for sharing your journey – you are a blessing.
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Thank you for sharing Crystal…sending you lots of love and prayers and I’m so glad a Love Rock found you!!!
Susan
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I’ve read this heart warming story and respect you incredibly for sharing it. I happened to find one of these love rocks deep in a mountain while hunting with this website on the back of it. I was curious so kept it and looked you up. Now idk what to do with it? The story you shared took a lot of courage and I’m not sure what to do with the love rock. Should I take it back or should I pass the rock onto another beautiful place for the hope of another one of gods children to find it.
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Do what feels right to you…if you found it god will nudge you when it’s time to share.
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Thank you for sharing. Know that your faith in God and this site has been a healing force in many people’s lives and maybe that is His purpose. I am so saddened by your immense loss, and so inspired by the Love Drenched Life you continue to share with the world through this blog and through love rocks. May God continue to bless your family until you are reunited in heaven.
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Susan, I find your Love Rocks page so inspiring! This is my first visit to your Blog, but it won’t be my last! You are so strong to put your enormous grief into positive loving life! I know from my sister Karen Torry and my niece Elena Torry-Schrag what special girls your daughters were. Thank you for blessing this world with your love and kindness.
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Susan, thank you so much for sharing the pictures and the joys of Abby and Anna with all of us. I struggle with what to say because I just want to say something comforting and I don’t know what that is. It is so amazing that you feel lifted by the community, when I think your courage is so uplifting to all of us. Please keep writing and sharing the lives of your girls, your words are speaking right from your heart and pouring into the lives of others with such evidence of God’s grace. We love you Susan.
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I love that you have named this blog Love Drenched Life. Those words absolutely echoed in head for weeks after the accident. So beautiful. And now a guiding principle for how I want to raise my kids. Thank you for sharing this journey with us. ❤
Marni
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