Angels

I was recently reading a friend's blog and came across a link to another blog for a woman named Sheye Rosemeyer. Several years ago her three year old daughter, Ava, died after being trapped in a hot parked car for only a little while. Reading her blog haunted me. It reminded me of the day we almost lost Olivia.

It happened on a hot August day in Las Vegas. I am sure the temperature was over 110 degrees. It always is that time of year. We were busy inside packing and getting ready for our move to Reno. Olivia and Ethan often played together in the toy room, which is where we assumed she was that hot afternoon. But in the middle of packing boxes something (or someone) nudged me and told me to check in on Olivia. She wasn't in the toy room, and after a quick canvas of the house, I couldn't find her anywhere inside. Again I was nudged, this time to go outside. The back door was unlocked and the garage was open so we could take boxes out to the moving truck. She wasn't in the garage. Quickly my gaze moved outside to our parked car. There with the windows and the doors closed sat my little Olivia. I could just see her little blond head peaking over the steering wheel. I rushed to the car. Olivia was weak, but awake. She was burning hot. She had probably been in the car 10-15 minutes. I rushed her inside, gave her fluids, put a cold pack on her head, and sat thinking of what could have been.

I think we all have angels watching over us. There is a higher power that silently guides us, and sometimes nudges us, to action. I will forever be thankful that I was compelled to look for Olivia. I believe that Ava is in a better place. Even though her mother's anguish and sorrow cannot be measured and even though she is missed every minute of every day, now Ava is an angel among us.