aniya

by donna drawdy
(gainesville florida)

In September of 2011 my daughter Laura delivered my granddaughter Aniya Lea at 26 weeks,this was a pregnancy fraught with concern due to very many different reasons the least of which was a terrible drug addiction.I did not know if my daughter would live from day to day and then the precious life she carried within was tenuous.Aniya entered the world at 1 lb. 6oz.,too small to even cry,bruised from head to toe because she had not been in the womb long enough to develop the protective layer of fatty tissue.I fell hard and fast in love with my tiny granddaughter,she had so many things wrong that I could not remember everything the Dr.'s were telling me.Everything was a blur,through tear filled eyes I stood in the NICU and silently begged God to let her pull through.She had been born too soon due to an abruption of the placenta I spent my time going back and forth between Laura's bedside and Aniya's,I felt an irresistable pull from this tiny precious girl,Oh how I loved her,she was so beautiful,black and blue skin,tubes and all.My heart lay heavy in my chest because I knew she wasn't going to make it,my daughter was finally able to get in a wheelchair and go see her and all thoughts of giving her up flew out the window,now she had a daughter that needed her,there was a reason to seek treatment ,get clean and be there for this little miracle.But such was not meant to be,the physicians called us into a room and told us there was nothing more they could do,they had fought long and hard for two days,she just wasn't responding,my daughter's knees buckled and she went to the floor,I will never forget one young Dr. who got down there with her and wrapped his arms around her and held her while she cried.This was what a broken heart felt like.The NICU nurses lifted the hood on the incubator and let us touch and kiss her,where were her wings for she was truly a little angel.Laura asked me to hold her while she took her last breaths,she did not struggle,she folded her tiny hands under her chin,lowered her precious head as if praying and she was ushered into the Father's arms.I am crying as i ,for the first time since she died,put this in words,I cry for her quite often,I MISS her,she taught me so much,how you ask,could a little baby teach anyone anything? She taught me that blessings may not come exactly when and how we expect them,the outcome may not be how we would have written it,but I was blessed to know Aniya Lea Moore for a short time, I'll have eternity with her one day.