We started this blog over seven years ago as a way to help channel as much love and healing energy to Carly as possible. Her life, and ours, had taken a turn into the uncharted and we knew it would take a Team to find our way. Team Carly was formed, and together we faced the challenges ahead. Our leader was the bravest little girl that we will ever know.
Many years and countless trips to the hospital later, things began to get more stable for Carly. Her last shunt surgery was June 18, 2014, a seemingly endless issue that finally resolved itself. Quarterly MRI’s showed no new tumor growth of any kind. A brother, Kempton, came into her life and the two siblings loved each other with a special bond. As Carly’s life settled into a still challenging, but more stable routine my drive to write a blog left me. I can’t explain exactly why I couldn’t write any longer but I knew that all of Team Carly was still behind us every step of the way.
Today I write what will likely be my last post here. Carly, who was always my Angel, got her wings on February 3, 2016. She was comfortable at her grandparents home, with people that loved her.
There are so many things we could say about Carly Grace. She was brave, wise, calm, patient and loving beyond her years. She was the strongest person we have ever known. She battled through more than 100 lifetimes of challenges, yet every time she made it through and we got back to our home she would smile. That smile was a gift to anyone who saw it, warming our hearts and filling us with love and hope. Carly had a way of bringing out the best in anyone whose life she touched: the medical staff at UCSF, her teachers and classmates, therapists, our friends and family, random people that we met, and most of all Christa and me. Our lives won’t be the same without her, but she has forever changed us for the better. We are forever grateful for the privilege of having her as our daughter.
Love, Brad
