Remembering Addison

One day at a time, one hour at a time, one minute at a time…

Those were the words my husband and I repeated to each other throughout our daughter Addison's life.

For almost 11 years, Addison filled our lives with joy, laughter, love, and perspective. She also introduced us to a world we never expected—one filled with hospital stays, uncertainty, fear, and learning how to survive moments that felt impossible.

And somehow, it is still hard to believe you've been gone for seven years.

Some days it feels impossible that so much time has passed. Other days, it feels like just yesterday we were holding your hand, hearing your laugh, and watching your beautiful smile light up a room.

Addison was born with a rare genetic condition called Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome. From the moment she entered this world, life changed completely. The future we had imagined suddenly looked very different, and we quickly learned that our lives would be measured in moments, milestones, setbacks, and small victories.

Every day felt uncertain. We didn't know how much time we would have with Addison. But Addison had other plans, she gave us nearly 11 beautiful years.

Years filled with music, dance parties, books, laughter, snuggles, hospital adventures, sleepless nights, celebrations, and memories we will carry with us forever.

Addison taught us how to slow down and appreciate the little things. She taught us resilience, patience, and unconditional love. She showed us that joy can exist alongside fear and that hope can still be found, even on the hardest days.

Her life was never defined by diagnoses, procedures, or limitations. Addison was so much more than her medical complexity. She was funny, expressive, determined, and deeply loved. She had a way of bringing people together everywhere she went, and even now, her impact continues to ripple outward in ways we never could have imagined.

Of course, there were incredibly hard moments too.

There were long hospital stays where the days and nights blurred together. Times when one parent stayed at the hospital while the other stayed home trying to hold everything together. Moments of exhaustion, heartbreak, fear, and uncertainty.

But even during those difficult seasons, Addison continued to teach us how to keep moving forward—one day at a time, one hour at a time, one minute at a time.

When Addison passed away, it would have been easy to let our grief consume us. Instead, because of her, we chose to turn that love into something that could help other families.

In 2019, we created the Babygirl Foundation in loving memory of our babygirl.

Through our Parent's Closets, Book Nooks, and by providing meals and snacks to families staying at the hospital, we hope to ease even a small part of the burden for parents and caregivers walking a path we know all too well.

Everything we do is rooted in love for Addison.

She is the reason we show up.

She is the reason we continue this work.

She is the reason we believe the smallest acts of kindness can make the biggest difference.

We miss her every single day.

Not just on anniversaries. Not just on birthdays. Every single day.

We wonder what she'd be like at 18. What she'd laugh at. What books she'd love now. What music she'd be listening to. Those are questions we'll never have the answers to, but they live in our hearts all the same.

While we would give anything to have her here with us, we are incredibly grateful for the nearly 11 years we were given. She changed us forever.

And through the Babygirl Foundation, her compassion, her strength, and her love continue to touch the lives of families who need it most.

Her story didn't end seven years ago.

It lives on every time a parent finds clean clothes after an unexpected admission.

Every time a family shares a meal without worrying where it will come from.

Every time a child curls up with a book during a hospital stay.

Every act of kindness we share carries a little piece of Addison with it.

And for that, her light will never stop shining.