Clara and the "Becky Bear"

Some of you know the inspiration behind Clara's middle name, Rebecca, but some of you may not. On January 10th, 1998, my youngest sister, Rebecca, was killed in a snowmobile accident. She had cerebral palsy and walked with a walker. She was an inspiration to all of our family, in addition to our small town of Cashmere. I was a freshman in college at the time, and it was, by far, the most difficult thing our family has experienced. Anyway, on January 10th of this year, my mom came over from Cashmere so that she'd be here for when Clara (who, at the time we didn't know if she was a girl or boy) was to be born. (I was five days over my due date at that point). We went to the doctor that afternoon and found out that I was still only 2 cm dilated, so my mom and I went to the mall to "walk the baby out" and also to make a special memory for Rebecca's 10 year anniversary of her going to live in Heaven. We decided to go to the Build-a-Bear store and make a special teddy bear for her, which we named "The Becky Bear." Well, Clara was born about 12 hours after making that bear, on the 11th at 6:00 in the morning. When we discovered that she was a girl, Jeremy and I knew that her middle name should be Rebecca. For 1o years, that time of year has always been so hard for my family and full of such grief . . . but now, 10 years later, God has brought new life to our family in Clara! When I was at my mom's house a few weeks ago, I took a few pictures of Clara with the Becky Bear, and she loved it. My mom also has a ledge full of angel figurines surrounding a picture of Rebecca. One of the figurines is a ballerina that is a music box. Clara absolutely LOVED that music box. I played it for her and she just smiled. It brought tears to my eyes. I miss Rebecca still, and it is special to be able to give my family a new little girl to bring honor to her name.