After her mother passed away, Bailey found a unique way to honor a nurse that held a special place in her family's heart. She shared with us the story of choosing a name for her baby girl.
A few months before my beautiful mom, Lorraine, left this world she had some particularly rough stays at Huntsman [Cancer Institute]. She spent more time as an inpatient—in and out of the ICU—than she ever had in the 9+ years since her diagnosis. She had always been so strong and hopeful throughout her battle with leukemia, but it was hard to keep her spirits up during those final months.
At the end of the summer in 2016, my mom’s last inpatient stay before things really took a turn for the worse, the sweetest nurse was assigned to take care of my mom. Her name was Jackson, and she was the support our family needed at the time. Jackson was my mom’s shoulder to cry on as she shared some vulnerable thoughts and fears about being at this end stage in her cancer journey. She was the support I needed too. She knew I wasn't ready to let myself admit I wouldn't have my best friend for much longer. Even though it felt like we were running out of time, Jackson kept us hopeful—not necessarily for my mom to recover. She helped our family know we would be okay.
My daughter was born after my mom passed away. As we were trying to decide on a name for our little one, I was reading through my mom's journal. She only filled about half the pages before she died, but it's one of the things I cherish the most now. She shared so many of her thoughts, fears, and hopes for us in the future that she knew she wouldn't be here for.
For some reason that day, I skimmed to the very last page and saw a short note she had written. It said how much she loved the name Jackson for a little girl. Jon and I talked about it, and Jackson Lorraine felt like the perfect name for our sweet baby. We had decided not to find out the gender until the baby was born, but we both had such a strong feeling I would have a little girl.
We were right. Her name couldn't fit our daughter more perfectly. She was born two days after my mom's birthday (nearly a month before her due date). I've felt my Mama Bear's sweet spirit so strongly since Jackson has been here. Jackson's my greatest blessing, and she came right when I needed her the most.
We recently introduced our sweet Jackson to her namesake. It was such a special day for our family. I know my mom had a smile on her face that day. I can't wait until my baby girl is old enough to understand the story about her name.
