Eve, our beautiful little girl. I think the best place to start is to tell you how lost we are without you and how much we miss you and your endless cuddles, but there aren’t any words to describe these feelings.To everyone else you were so quiet, but to us, we could always hear you and the silence without you is deafening. 
 
Mommy knew from the time you were in her tummy that our journey wasn’t going to be a ‘typical’ one. That’s because our connection was so strong. When you were born, it was so difficult to get our heads around this happening to the three of us, but we are so happy you were given to us Eve, you were meant for us. You have taught us what is important in life and you brought so much love in to all of our lives. We know that we couldn’t have done more for you or looked after you any better. We gave you as many experiences as we knew you could cope with and we are so grateful for the lovely memories we have together. If love alone could have cured you, we wouldn’t be here today. 
 
We obviously can’t stand here and pretend it was all easy, life was very difficult and challenging at times. It wasn’t traumatic, bad, horrendous; as those words are so negative. It was intense and challenging yes, but so rewarding. You developed in your own way and would try so hard in all of your therapy sessions and we are so proud of you. The hardest part of thisjourney for Mommy and Daddy was seeing you suffering and knowing we couldn’t do anything to make you better, this weighed so heavy on our hearts. However, they weigh even heavier without you around. We take so much comfort knowing you are now at peace and we would urge everyone here today to take comfort from this too. Until we meet again Eve, please enjoy this time with all the people that Mommy and Daddy have said goodbye to along the years.
 
We debated about having a wake for Eve, we initially thought no. Wakes are about a celebration of life and what is there to celebrate here? Eve was only 19 months old when she died, it all feels so verycruel….. But actually, there is so much to celebrate. The fact that she was here for a whole year meant that we got to experience every important event with her; Birthday’s, Christmas, Baptism etc, that always meant a lot to the two of us. Eve was brave and strong, she went through many things that many of us won’t experience in a lifetime. That bravery should be celebrated. She was a beautiful soul and she drew love from all of us here today. So actually,this is a time for remembrance and celebration and we would ask you all to join us in this celebration. Everyone here has shown the three of us so much love and support since Eve was born and we thank you all. 
 
With that in mind, we would like to take this opportunity to say a few special thank you’s:
 
To my parents Margaret and John, you immersed yourself in this world with me without hesitation and I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for us. I’ve never needed your support more and I hope you are as proud of yourselves, as I am, of you. 
 
To Mark’s parents, Ros and Neil, thank you for the support with Eve’s therapy sessions and for the many food parcels along the way!
 
To the staff at Holland House Day Nursery, you were not phased at all when I turned up with Eve! It really was quite remarkable! You gave us the opportunity to feel like a ‘normal’ family, which was something we longed for. Eve truly loved it there and it gave us so much joy to see you and all the children interact with her without a second thought, she was no different in their eyes and it was so heart-warming to see. 
 
To Acorns hospice, thank you for all the support you have given us. You allowed us to have a little break from the medical life we found ourselves to be thrown into. It was even more special to spend time with Eve at the hospice and see the fun she used to have with all the staff; who cared for her with so much kindness and love. It will always hold a special place in our hearts and it felt like a safe haven in Eve’s last weeks. 
 
And lastly to all of the nurses within the Community/Palliative and Rapid Response teams. Thank you so much for the guidance and support and the opportunity to have conversations without judgement. The job you do is truly inspirational and it can’t be commended enough. Mark and I couldn’t have got through our time with Eve without all of you. And to those of you who were with us towards the end, we thank you for sharing such a unique moment of our lives and for making it as peaceful as possible for Eve, Mark and I.