My Child, My Gift

I have a very special hero.

 

My hero is my little brother. His name is Joe. My little brother passed away when he was five days old.

 

Joe is my hero because he showed me that not everyone is here forever. When he died, it also showed me that I am a very lucky person because not everyone has a little brother in heaven that always watches over you. The five days I spent with him were the best five days of my life. We thought he was only going to be here over night, but we were wrong. We had a lot of fun with him. I fed him, got him dressed, and gave him a bath. The night he was born, I could not sleep. Then the next day we had to let my mom rest so I took care of Joe. Then a couple of days passed and my principal told me that we had to go to the hospital because something happened. I got there and Joe had passed away. When I heard the news, I felt like I was empty inside and very lonely, but for some reason, I kind of knew that he would always be with me. That's who my hero is.

 

(Alexandria M. Hassell, Joe's sister. Joe was diagnosed in utero with anencephaly.)