And she was BEAUTIFUL!!!! This is her:
She was so tiny. I called her peanut. I used to rub her lips with my finger, and she would pucker up her lips. She always smelled so good. I loved to hold her and always enjoyed being with her. Amber would sometimes spend the night at my parents house, so they had a bassinet she would sleep in. The bassinet is important later in my story.
I was only 17 when she was born. Nice glasses, huh?
I don't think a day went by, that I didn't see Amber. A baby always brings people together. It's so exciting to bring a baby into the world, and having Amber was exciting.
Life is precious. We never know how long our lives will be. We found that out with our precious Amber.
On July 5th, 1987, we lost our Amber Nicole. Amber died of SIDS, otherwise known as crib death when she was 4 weeks old. It was devastating. We were all left shattered and heartbroken.
Because it is still hard to go back to that time, I will just say that after her death, I appreciated life more than ever. After coming home from the hospital the night of her passing, I walked through the door of my parents home, and the first thing I saw was her bassinet. I broke down in a heap of overwhelming sadness. Sadness for my brother, my parents, Amber's mother, and those who were touched by this precious baby girl.
I looked into that empty bassinet and I saw her crib sheet. I took it off the bassinet and I held it to my face and I breathed in her scent. It was there. I hugged that sheet and I cried in that sheet and I just drank in her smell.
For days and weeks, and months and years, I slept with that sheet. I would fall asleep holding onto the sheet and trying to keep her smell in my memory.
I still have that sheet today. I no longer sleep with it. I haven't for along time. It's tucked away in my hope chest. But every birthday, and every July, I take it out and I hold it, and I smell it, and I remember.
The sheet that was on her bassinet.
Amber was a precious gift. I miss her terribly. We all miss her.
I know where Amber is. She is in heaven. She is in the arms of Jesus. She is with my grandparents. She is well taken care of. I will see her again.
So, Amber Nicole...Happy 24th Birthday to you, in heaven. I love you, and I still miss you today, and everyday. I'll see you again, peanut.
Always in my heart,
Aunt Shelly
