The day Aria died: In Summary, and counting our blessings

Letting go of Aria is by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do (and hopefully, will have to do going forward!)  However.  I feel very blessed that out of all the ways Aria's life could have ended, it ended in the way that was best both for us and for her.  The question was not if she would live or die.  We knew she would die.  She was too sick to survive away from her life support machines.  The question was HOW she would die.  We are able to find comfort in the following specific blessings:

• Because we knew that eventually we would have to make the decision to withdraw support, we (including Bennett) were able to have a lot of therapy and preparation and education in order to make the hard decisions we had to at the end, and were given a lot of say in the details.
• Miraculously, Aria hung in there for 7 weeks.  She was very sick at the beginning, and very sick at the end, but the middle chunk where she was stable was time we will always treasure because that is when we really got to spend time with her.  
• Aria didn't suffer as she died.  She had plenty of pain medication so that she didn't feel anything as she left this world.
• Because she was comfortable as she passed, she didn't turn purple when she stopped breathing.
• Aria died snuggled in the arms of her mommy and daddy, instead of coding in her bed.
• Because Aria's passing was so peaceful we held her for hours instead of minutes - one of the most sacred experiences of our lives.

This summer we have known so much heartache and grief.  But if you were to ask if I'd wish it didn't happen and not have to go through the hurt?  I'd pick Aria.  Every.  Single.  Time.  We are so honored that she picked us.  Knowing we have her for eternity is definitely worth the hurting.  I know that she also had to suffer at times, but I hope she feels it was worth it too.  We love you, baby girl.