Even the tiniest stone dropped into a pond forms ripples that flow across the water. Our Maddie was small and fragile, but her existence is and was real to us and to our parents, siblings, family, and friends. She existed and she touched our hearts, even though she never took a breath. While we do not know what it was about Maddie that made her Maddie, God knows, and that suffices; we give over to God the knowledge of so many things that entrusting our daughter to Him seems right and is right.

Madeleine Marie Mitchell was born on September 13, 2009 at 32 weeks of gestation. She was 18" long and weighed 3 lbs 15.4 oz.