A time of mourning

Got some bad news this morning, a friend who is like family to us, lost his wife and infant son.

We first met Andrew when he was just a teenager, and was looking for a new job. We hired him and immediately took him under our wings and he became like family to us, almost like a son. He was such a nice kid, with good values, and family was always most important to him. He talked about wanting to get married and having a big family.

We watched him graduate high school, graduate college, get married, and were anxiously awaiting the arrival of his child. We first learned of their pregnancy last year, unfortunately, Ashley (Andrew's wife) miscarried. Another pregnancy soon after, this time twins, sadly, one of the twins wouldn't survive, although it seemed to make the other fetus stronger. An ultrasound showed the fetus to be a girl. Andrew really wanted a daughter, although he had wanted a son first.

I'm not sure of all the details, since John was the one who talked to Andrew, but what I do know is, Ashley was sitting on the couch, apparently didn't feel well, and she died while sitting there. She was only 25 years old. Andrew administered CPR until paramedics came, and she couldn't be saved, but they were hoping to save the fetus. It ended up being a boy, and survived for 45 minutes thanks to Andrew's CPR on Ashley. He named him Elijah Christian McKnight.

So now, here's a man, who we've known since he was in high school, who's great with kids, and became an elementary school teacher because he loves kids so much . That has always wanted a wife and lots of kids, and now in the past year, he's lost two fetuses, a wife, and a child less than an hour old.

My heart mourns for his loss, and I pray that his family can get him through the sort of grief you should never have to face, especially at such a young age.

If you've made it through all of this, please add Andrew and his family to your prayer list.

Thanks and please give your babies and loved ones an extra tight hug the next time you see them! Everything can change in the blink of an eye.