The past 48 hours have been heartbreakingly beautiful. 

There was no darkness, only light. 

Around 6:30 am on Sunday, August 10, our night nurse rang the emergency doorbell we had installed in case she needed us. Alan and I immediately woke up from our *light* sleep and rushed to Paloma. She informed us that Pally's pulse ox was not picking up her heart rate and O2 and her breathing had gotten even more shallow. 

Alan picked her up from her bed and held her on the sofa. We cried together, telling her we are so proud to be her parents and that she did so so good. We agreed that Ben and Rori needed to be with us so I rushed to wake them up. (We knew Milo would be harder to wake up so we gave him more time to sleep hehe). Alan held her for 20 minutes, while Ben cried hard laying over Pally, and then Alan turned to me saying, "I want you to be the last one to hold her" so he placed her in arms. Rori leaned on me and caressed her face. I gently whispered, "My girls" and kissed them both.

We were so blessed to have Alan's sister and her family be with us the entire weekend as well as my parents who live with us. Thankfully, my dad was able to be home from the hospital to be with her, too. Everyone, including Milo, was awake with us as Pally transitioned. 

Pally's favorite nurse, Ms. Temeica, walked in at 7:03 am and immediately took her vitals. She told us, "Yeah, it's time."

We all told Pally, "I love you," over and over again. I told her to give Mama Mary a hug for me. I felt and saw her breathing continue to slow, until she took her final breath at 7:10am, peacefully and without any pain. Alan immediately lead us all in prayer and thanked God for entrusting us with Pally. 

There is so much more that happened yesterday and the days before, and I'll continue to share over the next few weeks and months. But for now...thank you. Thank you for supporting us, near and far. We feel so covered with love, support, and prayers.

We'll never know why we only got 7 years with Pally, but I can tell you, without any doubt, we had a beautiful life with her, just as we said we would give her when we first received her rare diagnosis. 

Paloma Lucia. My beautiful girl. My heavenly saint. 
Pray for me, as I learn to navigate this earthly life without you, sweet girl. 

p.s. If you'd like to join us in praying a novena for Pally, my best friend has graciously typed one up that I'll share to my instagram stories.  ❤️