Blood Moons

From the NASA website:

“The action starts on April 15^th [2014] when the full Moon passes through the amber shadow of Earth, producing a midnight eclipse visible across North America. So begins a lunar eclipse tetrad—a series of 4 consecutive total eclipses occurring at approximately six month intervals. The total eclipse of April 15, 2014, will be followed by another on Oct. 8, 2014, and another on April 4, 2015, and another on Sept. 28 2015.

"The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the USA," says longtime NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak.”

Last year, on April 15^th, my grandmother, a gentle and kind soul, slipped away quietly. We dropped everything to drive 12 hours to spend the first and last Easter I would have with my grandfather in 30 years. There were a lot of hard things about that time, but on Easter, we took a break. My cousins cooked and my kids played, and my 94 year old grandfather, for the first time, had a house full of generations. He died just three weeks later, but that day, that Easter, he said was the happiest day of his life, and he knew he was loved.

“No one should die alone…Each human should die with the sight of a loving face.”

--Mother Teresa

On October 8^th last year, I set an alarm to get up early to see the next blood moon. I had never seen one. The air was cold but the sky was clear. I took my cell phone outside with me, and I looked down to see a waiting message. I opened it, and for the first time ever, saw the face of our sweet daughter. Under the blood moon, I knew it was her, and I cried.

Today, Easter once again, that same daughter turns 15 months old. Yesterday, April 4, on the date of the third blood moon, she began her very last week without a mom and dad. We have every approval, every piece of paper, every bag packed and we are on our way in just a few short days. She is already loved.

If it were possible to feel the past and the future all at once in the present, I would be living there today. I've spent the last week hugging and loving on my little boys before we leave. We've been to the zoo, to the park, to museums, and to visit the butterflies of the Phillippines at the conservatory. They are going to be wonderful big brothers. They know what it is to be loved and they know how to love well, and I thank God that they have always known it.

The final blood moon of the tetrad is September 28, 2015. Iris will have been home for just over 5 months by then. That thought alone fills me with immeasurable joy. It's time!

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
―Mother Teresa