October 19, 2023- Avery’s 15th Birthday - A letter from her whole family…

For Avery’s birthday, we had each of her sisters, her brother, her mama and her dad, write their own personal letter to share.

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#AveryStrong

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From little sister Addison:

Dear Avery-

Happy Birthday Aves!

Wow, you would have been 15 years old. That means 7 years and 8 lonely months without you. I miss you. I miss telling you my secrets, playing kitchen and playing beach with our bathroom towels. You were my best friend.

Life is stressful and tough without you. But I’m taking every new step for you. Like being in 6th grade. I’m taking all the big, huge, scary steps, all for you and it’s hard without you.

I pray and cry, wondering why you had to go so soon. I think about if you were still here everyday.

But you are in a better place than all of us. God is taking amazing care of you in Heaven. While the world is a terrible place sometimes, I’m happy you’re healthy, running in to God’s arms, praying, doing all the things you couldn’t do when you were sick and still here.

I miss you. We all do.

Life is still always going to be tough without you. I will just have to remember you are safe, NOTHING can harm you now. You are running free.

But I still ask why did you have to go at 7? God only knows.

Happy 15th birthday Avery. I will always miss you.

xoxo your sis,

Addison

From big brother Cade:

Dear Aves,

I miss you everyday. It’s been 8 years since we were last together. It’s a sickening feeling realizing that you have been gone longer than you were here on Earth. I’m at that point in my life where I’m going through my senior year, applying to universities, and really thinking about my future and what I’m going to do with my life. 8 years ago, all I was thinking about was you and praying to God that you could be healthy. I know you’re up there, smiling down at us all, laughing at me when I do something silly, healed by the grace of God. We all wish you were still with us. You were a blessing, and you taught myself and countless other people a lesson: even when it’s hard, find joy in the little things in life. And to this day, and for the rest of my days, it is applied to my life.

I love you Aves. Today, we celebrate you. You were a gift. I love you, and I miss you more than anything. Happy Birthday.

Love, 

Cade

From big sister Alex:

Avery

Hi Avery, it’s me. It’s your 15th birthday, which is beyond crazy. I cannot fathom that it’s been longer that you’ve been gone than you were here.

While I think that it’s a dangerous path to go down, thinking about what could have been, what you would be doing if you were still here—how can I not? When I see your friends on Instagram (gosh, I can’t even imagine you using social media) posting about boys and going to football games, I can’t help but wonder where you’d be at with those social things, what 9th grade would be like for you.

I try to not dwell on it. To be honest it’s hard to allow myself the space to think about these things because it’s quite literally painful. That’s something I realized very recently. And I guess that probably sounds terrible for you to hear but I promise it’s only because I don’t want to think of you in pain or hurting.

There was something that I remember seeing when you first passed, when Nana came into my room to tell me that it had happened, and it was you getting out of your wheelchair and running into the open arms of Jesus. I forgot about it for years, the memory of it came back to me this summer. And now I think about it often, because while it not only brings me a lot of comfort, it makes me so sure of your joy up there. I’m so certain that you did run into His arms! And I can only imagine that you are just so at peace and experiencing so much joy. I hope that you have a giant birthday cake and a huge celebration going on up there.

I guess I needed you to know that I am sharing pieces of joy from your life here on earth more and more. I’m sharing the happy things, like when you forced me to wear a horrendous outfit you picked out for me or when you tried to prank me by putting dried plums in my oatmeal as if I wouldn’t notice. I’m hoping to share more and more of those good memories tonight at dinner, which we are still doing even when I’m at school.

Happy 15th birthday, Avery. I miss you a ton, but I hope your celebration in Heaven is oh so special.

Love Alex.

From Mama:

My dearest Avery

Today is your 15th birthday. It’s hard to even say that out loud.

Somehow, with God’s strength and Hope, we continued to get up each new day, still longing for sweet reminders of you and winks from heaven.

You’ve have been in heaven longer than you were here.

Your friends are all growing up, enjoying high school and all the social aspects that go along with it.

They look so mature and still hold a special place in our hearts for their love for you.

Our minds often wander to what you would look like now too as a teenager.

As many of them gear up for homecoming this weekend, we are painfully reminded of all you are missing.

It is so hard honey and we try our best to cling to all the joyful memories of you.

Dad often says something silly you did when he knows my heart needs an Avery-silly.

We laugh and it helps ease the ache a little. You were a joy-bringer. Your smile would always ease you out of any naughty situation and it’s that grin I hold on to most.

It’s how I always picture you and how I imagine each day is now in heaven: you with a permanent-grin.

Thinking of you smiling really helps me get through some of our hard moments here.

As we do our best to celebrate your special day, this eighth one without you present physically, we will eat dinner together, share silly Avery stories, smile and probably cry too.

We are meeting Alex up near her college so we can continue on your birthday tradition of being together.

We will talk about you to those around us, we will keep fighting for a cure, we will never grow tired from sharing what you endured and how much we love you.

We love you forever.

Happy fifteenth birthday beautiful.

Keep the golden smile shining bright.

Love Mom.

From Dad:

Aves-

I’ve written so much about you since the day you were diagnosed.

It never gets easier - in fact, it gets more difficult every day that passes, every passing week.

Today you would have turned 15. The next year, dad would have been the one to teach you how to drive, and knowing how you did everything at one speed, full speed, I know that would have been an adventure. You would have tried to go to Homecoming this weekend, and I would have sat there, with a look to whoever was asking you for a date that said, ‘don’t you dare do anything to ruin this night for her.’

You would be in high school with Cade, no doubt pushing his buttons, but because you were so tight, also trying to tag along with everything he wanted to do with his friends, and your convincing ways would have made it tough for him to tell you no.

We still share your story, we still say your name, we still carry on your legacy.

Your name is everywhere - our foundation is literally named after you and YOUR name and YOUR fight is the reason we are making an impact to find a cure for the monster that took you so young.

You inspire me daily and as you can see above, you inspire your sisters, your brother and your mama daily.

We will never stop fighting for you.

We will never stop missing you.

We will never stop loving you.

Keep inspiring us.

Love you, Aves.

Dad