"I have a sister already ... she is an ANGEL now! And that makes me the most powerful girl in my school!"

This is Abby. She is six years old. She told me yesterday was the best day of her life because she became "Grade 1". When she entered her new classroom for the first time yesterday, she exclaimed ... "I love being in grade 1!"

Most of her classmates in preschool, including Abby, are firstborns. In their 3 years together, baby sisters or brothers were born to most of them ... almost everyone either became an "ate" (big sister) or "kuya" (big brother), except Abby. She kept lamenting, "I'll never be an ate ... ".

When we lost MAIA, Abby came to terms with our loss by explaining it away in her own simple, innocent way. She said, "maybe God really wanted me to have a baby sister, but He made a mistake and sent us a baby brother instead, that's why He took our baby back." I told her that God never makes mistakes. He sent us a baby girl, but then, He wanted her in heaven with Him, that's why she had to go back.

We think of Maia as an embryo. We do not have an image of her as a baby. But Abby and I believe that she will continue to grow up in heaven as time passes. She will have her first birthday there. She will also grow her first tooth in heaven. In her evening prayers, Abby keeps praying to Mama Mary... "please let Maia grow some teeth".

A few days ago, she said to me, "I am the most powerful ATE in my school."

I asked her why.

"I am the only girl with a sister who is an ANGEL IN HEAVEN."