The adoption court date was set over a year later. Shelly was busy preparing the multitude of paperwork and arrangements necessary for the upcoming finalization. She was also busy with an eight week old basset hound puppy named Agnes. With all these "motherly" things going on, Shelly had disregarded the pregnancy symptoms she was feeling, figuring they were somehow those "sympathy pains" you hear about. We had given up on all of the fertility testing and drugs years earlier and she had no indication that there would even be a remote chance of conceiving. Thats why we aren't doctors. When doctor said she was pregnant, we had to see it to believe it. At approximately 8 weeks into the first tri we saw Emily for the first time. A tiny little heart beat on the ultra sound screen.

Our whole lives changed.

A Miracle had happened.

The pregnancy started out great and Shelly and I were never more in love. Our two daughters were excited about the baby and our family growing. We would go in to the doctors every two weeks and check up on her. We were watching her grow in black and white. We could see here arms and legs moving and she seemed to always be busy. Then things started happening, and bad went to worse.

...it lasted 18 weeks.

We named her Emily Saranna.

I was looking thru Shelly's calendar one day about a year later. On Nov 17th she had drawn a heart. There were no words, just a simple outline of a heart. This was the day that Emily came and passed. From that point on, hearts have a whole new meaning to me. The heart on our team logo is for her. Emily is with me in every young lady on my Classics team. She goes with us to tournaments, she hangs with us at games and she is there every time a Classic gets a base hit, slides into second, catches a line shot or throws a change-up to strike a batter out. I see her in every girls eyes on my team.

She would be 10 years old now, and we'd prbably be having pitching practice tonight.

Natalie and Mary don't play ball anymore but they help me with the team. Treasure and cherish your children. You only have them around for such a short time. Our family still grows; we have 14 more special girls this year :)

Coach B.