Happy 2nd Birthday Hudson

If this is your first time to visit our blog thank you for taking time to check it out.  I started this blog when I was pregnant with our first and only child.  We found out at 20 weeks that our son Hudson would be born with a complex congenital heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), which meant he would be born with only half of a functioning heart.  The truth is we never knew if we would ever bring our baby home or if he would survive the first of the 3 operations that were required to give him a chance at life.  There were some very close calls early on, but Hudson did survive.  In fact he just didn’t survive, Hudson thrived.

Hudson was a miracle from the very beginning.  This beautiful child with half of a heart changed my life forever and the lives of so many others.  Hudson was so full of joy.  He really loved life and made the most of every moment.  Unless you saw the scar that ran down the front of his chest, you would never have known that anything was wrong.  Hudson was full of energy and he loved to dance, sing, and play all the time.

A few weeks ago my life changed forever.  My precious baby boy passed away unexpectedly in the arms of his earthly father and went straight into the arms of his heavenly father.  We miss Hudson every moment, but this life is not the end.  We will be reunited again with our son in Heaven.  Today is Hudson’s 2^nd birthday.  We wanted to do something special to honor him and we thought starting an annual tradition of Hudson’s Day of Kindness would make our sweet boy proud.

I hope if you received a card today and someone was kind to you that you would consider passing it on.  I also hope you know that you are loved by a Savior that died on a cross so that he could have a relationship with you.  We hope that Hudson’s legacy will be one of remembering what’s important both in this life and our eternal life.  We know that Hudson is celebrating his 2^nd birthday this year with Jesus.  While we wish Hudson was here with us, we know that his heart has been healed and he is with the only one that loves him more than we can. 

Happy 2^nd birthday my precious son.  

I love you forever and can’t wait until I can hold you in my arms again!

Link to Hudson's Day of Kindness Cards:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4mfAlWPs28TS1FOU19yVS1LTFU/view?usp=sharing


Photo Credit: HMP Studios

Hudson's Day of Kindness

On Wednesday, June 3^rd we had the most beautiful memorial service to honor the incredible life of our precious son Hudson.  Hudson spent 23 months and 5 days on this Earth before going to his eternal home in Heaven.  On June 25^th, Hudson would have been 2 years old.  We want to start an annual tradition of a day to remember Hudson with random acts of kindness to celebrate his birthday.  We are asking anyone, anywhere to join with us in keeping Hudson’s legacy alive.  I have attached a PDF with Hudson’s Day of Kindness cards front and back so that anyone can print them out.  There are 4 cards to a page and the back of the cards is in the link as a second page but you can just turn the paper around in the printer to print the back.  Please feel free to pass out as many as you would like on June 25^th while performing random acts of kindness.  Thank you in advance for helping us celebrate our sweet son’s birthday while being kind to others.

If anyone is interested in making a donation to help fund life-saving research for other children born with congenital heart defects (CHDs), you can make a donation to Children’s Hospital of Alabama in memory of Hudson Simmons.  If you specify Hudson's name, 100% of the proceeds will go to CHD research.  Donations can be made online at childrensal.org or by mail to the following address: 

Attn: Peggy Darby

Children's of Alabama Foundation

1600 7th Ave South

Birmingham, AL  35233

Link to Hudson's Day of Kindness Cards:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4mfAlWPs28TS1FOU19yVS1LTFU/view?usp=sharing

There's No Place Like Home

On Saturday morning Hudson went to his eternal home in Heaven.  It was as much of a shock to us as to everyone else.  He had been a little under the weather with a minor ear infection, but nothing serious.  In fact Hudson has been doing great for quite a while now.  His last cardiologist appointment in February couldn't have gone any better and we had seen our pediatrician this past week.  

Hudson passed away instantaneously in the arms of his daddy most likely from a cardiac arrhythmia. He didn't suffer and left this world in the arms of his Earthly father and then went straight into the arms of his Heavenly father.  We are devastated of course and feel like our hearts are broken in a way that will never be healed until we see him again.  We are taking this journey one step at a time and find great peace in knowing he is in Heaven with a perfect heart and that we will see him again.

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."    Psalm 73:26

We would love to have anyone join us for a service to remember Hudson's beautiful life.

Memorial Service:

Wednesday June 3, 2015 @ 1:00 PM

Church of the Highlands Chapel

5901 Overton Road Birmingham, AL  35210