MACIE'S STORY
March 25th 2015, was hands down, one of the best days of our lives. It was the day our brown haired, blue eyed, little firecracker was born. What we thought would be a routine check up, turned into an emergency c-section to figure out why Macie’s heart rate was over 240 bpm. We were discharged from the hospital with a possible diagnosis with strict routine checks to the pediatric cardiologist.
At 8 days old, while at a checkup with the pediatric cardiologist, Macie was transferred to Lucille Packard to Stanford’s cardic NICU where we found out Macie was born with Ectopic Atrial Tachycardia (EAT). She was seriously a fearless warrior from day one. Although this diagnosis could have serious affects long term, with the care and beta-blocker medication from her pediatric cardiologist, Macie was successfully treated and cleared right before her 3rd birthday.
October 19th, 2018 will be the worst day of our lives, the day we had to say good-bye to our sweet Macie Grace here on Earth. That Friday morning, we were playing I-Spy in the car on the way to drop off Ainsley at school. Ainsley wanted us to guess something purple. Macie goes “purple flower? Wow, mommy….look at all the purple flowers”. Sure enough, all you could see were purple flowers surrounding us. Macie’s favorite color was purple. Someone shared with me a saying “Budded on earth to bloom in Heaven”.
Macie had a heart of gold and a smile that could light up a room. There was just something about those piggytails and the twinkle in her eyes that just melted your heart. She absolutely loved with every ounce of her heart! She absolutely adored her family and friends. When Jameson would cry in the car, she would always start to sing “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star”. She adored her big sissy, her best friend, her partner in crime… they were two peas in a pod. She LOVED her daddy, she may have been a “Mommy’s girl”, but loved playing horsey, reading books, “Knocking daddy over”, being thrown in the air, playing hide-n-seek, coloring and tackling. But hands down, one of her favorite things to do would be to run fearlessly into her Daddy’s arms to be thrown as high as he could in the air, always to be caught and wrapped up in his little Mouse’s arms.
She was always in such a big hurry to grow up. We constantly told her that she wasn’t allowed to grow up. She would always reply “no way!” I don’t know how many times I had to stop and remind myself, she was only 3. When Ainsley started Kindergarten, it was Macie throwing a fit and crying, because she couldn’t go. One day after dropping Ainsley off at school, out of nowhere…she says “I’m five Mommy, I can go to Kindergarten now!” Preschool 3 days a week, just simply wasn’t enough. She still wanted to go every day, because big sissy did! She wanted every day to be a “Macie Day”.
Macie loved the sandbox at school. I’m not sure how there is any sand left in that sandbox, because all of it was either in her hair or in her shoes. Macie adored all animals, big and small. She asked politely to pet every dog she saw. She was our crazy cat lady. Play-dates never seemed to be long enough and there were never enough snacks to be raided in the pantry. She simply loved everyone and everything. Family and friends were her world!
Macie was usually the first person to wake up in the morning (5:30am sure did come early) and the last one to fall asleep. Anything to delay bedtime, whether it was because the covers weren’t just right, she needed to go potty, needed another hug or kiss from Mommy or Daddy or just to let us know she loved us and that we were beautiful.
She was the definition of joy and she made you a happier, better person when you
were around her. Macie may have only physically been on Earth for 3 ½ years and while
that seems like a way too short of time for all of us, her spirit is with everywhere,
every day and always. Macie is ethereal. Which means “delicate and light in a way that is
too perfect for this world”. There will be beauty in Macie’s ashes. Her death has meaning.
No on is more secure than the one who is held in God’s hands. At the young age of 3,
Macie asked Jesus to protect her. He is doing just that
“And God has reserved for his children the priceless gift of eternal life; it is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.”
1 Peter 1:4