On Sunday, February 16, 1997, ten days after my due date, Tom and I were sitting at the kitchen table finishing a puzzle we had been working on.  It was a 1,000 piece puzzle of an underwater scene. ( I wonder as I write this, did that choice of puzzle predict her love of the ocean? Just a thought.)  Around 11:30am, I began having contractions.  After having 2 others before her, I knew it was the real thing. Tom took a quick shower as the intensity of my contractions steadily increased.  We arrived at Lakeside Hospital in Brockport and I called Jennifer (Neri) Fitzwater sometime around 12:30pm.  Tom and I walked the hall of the labor and delivery unit until the pain became too intense for me to walk.  We returned to the small labor room and I stood bent over the sink, as Tom rubbed my back through each contraction.  He says I bit him, I really don't remember that!  As the incredible urge to push came over me, the nurse took me to the delivery room. After a few pushes and pulling out Tom's chest hair with every push I gave birth at 1:27pm to a healthy baby girl. Cameron Lee DeVeronica.   She weighed 8lbs 13oz and was 21 inches long. Just the beginning of a beautiful life.

It's difficult to know where to start and what to share, when I have so many wonderful memories of Cameron's life.  She's an amazing person and I say this in the present tense because she still lives in my heart.  The things she taught me will stay with me forever.  I am a better person because I was lucky enough to be her mother.  As much as it hurts to have lost her, I couldn't imagine my world without her having been in it.  I only wish it could have been longer.

Whenever a parent loses a child, the pain is unbearable and indescribable.  There really are no words to express the desperate need to have your child back.

I know Cameron would want us to remember her life and smile through the tears.  As she once told me," Mom, sometimes you just need to turn the music up and dance".

I love you, my Dancing Queen!