For Candida

Candida, like me, is an MBA spouse. Our husbands will graduate in a few short days with their degrees. It hardly seems possible that the two year journey that seemed so long and arduous at the beginning is now coming to a close.

We share a love of photography, of books, of making things, and of home and family. We shared our pregnancies - my fourth, and her second - and the birth of our daughters, born just eleven days apart. We shared the stress of husbands nearly not finding internships and we were on the MBASA board together this year.

For nearly two years, I have followed her blog, a sunny place where she shares her heart, her hopes, and a glimpse into her family life. A life she cherishes. We built our friendship through cyberspace and the occasional MBASA activity. She spent a couple of mornings at my house that blended into afternoons, and together we sewed. And I marveled at her positive outlook, and how tenderly she mothered her daughters.

Last Wednesday, she and her husband, Joe lost their precious baby Elena. She slipped away peacefully in the night, as Candida so beautifully put it, "to be welcomed into a new but familiar set of loving arms."

I mostly know Elena through Candida's little corner of the blogging world. And although I didn't know her well, I knew her well enough for her to capture my heart. She was a happy, sweet baby with a great capacity to love and to be loved. The love she felt for her family was evident in her wide, blue eyes, and the way she seemed to smile with her whole body when she was nestled safely in their arms. She is greatly missed.
Thank you Candida for sharing her with us. Our hearts and prayers are with you.