Sadness

I don't always ask for thoughts and prayers, but there is a family that needs them tonight.

Way back when I was a newly made fiancee, I spent a lot of time on the Atlanta wedding message board on the Knot. There were about 10 or 15 of us that were all getting married in a six month window - January to June 2007. One of the ladies was Shelly. She and Tom got married in January 2007. They went with me and Matt to a Bowling For Soup concert the day Daddy went in to the hospital for his heart.

Shelly gave birth to their daughter Ella on March 21, 2009. She is a gorgeous little girl that is a perfect mix of her mom and dad. Shelly had some complications with the pregnancy due to Crohn's disease. But things seemed to be okay, until September. Shelly started having some medical issues. She was in and out of the hospital a few times. She was out for Halloween, her favorite holiday and was able to take Ella to the pumpkin patch for pictures. Shortly after that, she went back into the hospital because she wasn't feeling good. Over the past three weeks there were almost daily updates posted on the ATL baby board. She had good days and bad days. This morning, at 5:30, her heart stopped. They were unable to resuscitate her. She leaves behind her husband of almost three years, Tom and Ella, who will be 8 months old on Saturday.

Her death has rocked our little online community. We are left wondering how this could happen. Our annual ornament exchanged has been canceled. Instead we will be doing some type of fundraiser for Tom and Ella. It's the least we can do.

If you would like to see a little bit of Shelly, Tom, and Ella's life, here's a link to her blog.

Shelly was a wonderful, sweet woman who will be missed.