I am the proud auntie of Isabella Norton, born on February 28th to my sister Allison and her husband Anthony. We’re so excited, and so are our kids…they keep asking when we can get in the car and go to see her. Since there’s no amazing bridge connecting Japan with New Jersey, it will have to wait until this summer…

Her birth was an emotional day for me. I didn’t realize how hard it would be NOT to be near my sister Allison on that day… when I found out she had gone into the hospital (she was induced one week after the due date because her blood pressure was too high), I felt like something was being ripped out of me… I had really wanted to pray with her before she went in (over the phone). Thankfully, I did have a chance to talk with her on her cell phone just after they had started the induction process.

On that same day, I was scheduled to share a testimony about my mom’s life, and death, in one of my English class chapel times. While driving to the class with my Christian friend Junko, I just broke down in the car and started sobbing. It felt too hard, with Allison going into the hospital for such a huge life-changing event while I was going to share about the very life-changing event of my mom’s death.

Somehow, the cry in the car helped, and I made it through the class and chapel time with just a few tears…but all the ladies were teary-eyed, as well. And I shared that on that day, my mom’s legacy would be continuing in yet another way as this special baby, my mom’s first birth-grandchild, was being born.

Welcome, Isabella! Now, in addition to Kaiya and Landen (Eric’s brother and sister-in-law, Ivan and Julie’s two great kids), our children have a new cousin!