Hearing Lila's name from kids

Today we had some great friends visit from out of town. (Thank you guys for everything). Being around kids, especially those who were going to be Lila's friends, has been helpful to us and served as a good distraction. Almost two year old Emma went over to one of Lila's pictures today and just said "Lila" aloud to herself. She recognized Lila in the picture and knew it was Lila and said her name, like she had said it a few times before. It was almost like it was just another thing to her, like there is my blanket, there is my juice box, there is a picture of my friend Lila. A totally normal thing in the mind of a two year old. Oh how we wish it was just that, but it was so much more to us. Hearing her name from kids who do not understand what happened to her, but know she exists is a powerful thing. For a moment it seems like Lila is still here or she is on her way to coming home to us. We know that is not the reality though, but when we hear kids say her name and acknowledge her existence it helps us. It shows us that even after Mike and I are gone someday, we can hope that the generation of kids that Lila should have been a part of might still remember her as well. I just wish Lila would have been here today to play with Emma and all of her other friends we wanted her to meet so badly. - Jenny