A few years have passed, and it feels like yesterday. Many hearts are still coming our path… And your strong, beautiful spirit is still strongly with us, as well as with those whose path you crossed. Never forgotten. Always inspiring.
We miss you dearly Emma, and forever will keep your spirit and heart with us. A big heart, an extra big heart. A spark that is still shining today, just in a different way. Know that you are always remembered, the veil that separates us is so thin at times, especially when signs come on our path.
We will post more incredible hearts that came across this year.
But above all, we have to share an extra-ordinary story that will forever mark our lives. An amazing moment that happened on Emma’s Birthday, which magic continued to spread over a week.
Emma would have turned 16 on August 21. Something amazing happened on that day.
First, we have to mention that two days before Emma’s birthday, one of her teachers sent me a special message, sharing that she was thinking of Emma, and that she always thinks of her on her birthday, because her daughter’s birthday is the day before. It is very special and always very touching to hear from people who remember Emma, we are grateful for those connections.
She told me that she took her daughter to see a big field of sunflowers near us. She said they were beautiful, and in full bloom. This is the first time that someone mentioned those sunflowers to us, and suddenly I remembered that I always wanted to take Emma to see those sunflowers, but since we were never in Rochester at that time of year, we never could. How I wished we would have taken her, she loved flowers, and she would have absolutely loved them.
Jeff, Ella and I went to the cemetery on Emma's birthday. It was raining before we went, but while there, we had a little window of time with no rain. Afterwards, I felt that we should go to see those sunflowers near us, and take Emma with us, in our heart. We thought that Ella would enjoy seeing them as well.
Ella had to stop by home after the cemetery, and I remember telling her and Jeff that we had to leave as soon as we could, since the sun came out and we didn’t know how long it would last… A feel that we had to be there…
The sun was still out, and when we arrived by the sunflowers, the beauty was unfolding before our eyes. The lighting was just stunning, the sun making them look even more beautiful, with a magical feel. Shining like your spirit.
It did rain before, but not when we went there. I went out of the car while Jeff and Ella were parking. I was walking towards the sunflowers, and in front of me happened to be a family with two small children. Two girls. I saw the mother taking her phone towards me, asking if I wouldn’t mind taking a picture of them.
Jeff came next to me with Ella, while I was taking the picture. He overheard the mother calling her little girl, but I was so focused on taking the picture, that I was not paying attention to what she was exactly saying… When I was done, Jeff asked her: “What is your daughter’s name?”. He thought he heard the name, but could not believe it. She said: “Emma”. Jeff and I looked at each other, stunned... Emma?!? The family was Japanese... What are the odds? One of Emma's best friends who moved back to Japan is also Japanese.
What are the odds, right at that very same time when we arrived? And among all the names that exist… Emma?
The girl was about five or six years old, and her mother was holding the baby sister. The girl had a flower in her hair and Emma loved to wear flowers in her hair too at that age. The girl looked at us with a big smile, she almost looked like Emma…
Amazing moment… What are the odds of something like this happening on the day of Emma’s birthday, her special 16th birthday?
The magic of that day does not stop there. We were originally going to gather just a few of Emma's closest friends on that day, but since it was going to be a rainy day, we decided to postpone it to a few days later. We had to plan with the weather accordingly. We chose a day that looked clear to gather outside. One couple who knew Emma since she was born, and happened to be with her in some key moments during her illness, was not able to join us, because they were on a trip in Europe. When I told them that we were postponing, in case they were back, they said that on that day they were planning to be in Strasbourg just for a few hours. Interestingly, just on that day, around the same time, after traveling through different countries. Maybe a way for Emma of telling us that she is with us...
We recalled that when we shared the postponing with Emma's piano teacher, who is also Japanese, she said that maybe there was a reason. And it turned out to be that way. If we would not have postponed the event because of the weather, we would not have gone to the sunflower field on that day.
This was all truly incredible, that everything unfolded in that manner last minute. We thought that was amazing, and truly a sign of Emma. But then what happened a few days later was getting even more astonishing.
During our gathering, we also managed to face time with Emma's special friend in Japan. She happened to be available just for about an hour, before leaving on a trip to another city with her family. It was so touching to see everyone connect. At the end of that evening, when everyone left and everything was done, despite the exhaustion I felt I had to share the special day of the birthday with Emma's friend. When I sent her the message, she immediately replied and said that just before receiving my message, her mother drew her attention to a sign they just passed... A big sign, in Japan, just at that very same moment... A sign that said "Emma"... I was stunned. She then left for a few days with her family.
Couple days later, I took Ella to her piano lesson. She has the same teacher Emma had, who is from Japan. Right when we came in, my phone rang. A message came in, and it was Emma's friend from Japan. She had no idea Ella had her lesson at that time. She said she had to write because she had something special to share, something that happened on Emma's birthday. When I read her story, tears ran down my face, it was truly astounding.
Her friend said what happened was phenomenal, and she said she would like to share the story on Emma's website. I offered to write ours first, to have a better idea of how everything happened, but with different circumstances arising end of Summer and in the Fall, we are sharing it now.
Emma’s friend will soon share her story as well, of what happened to her on Emma’s birthday.
With all our love forever, Emma.
