Addy – The Little Girl Who Changed Our World Forever
Content warning: This story contains themes of child loss and grief.
Adalynn Grace Rogers — our Addy — is still missed more than words can hold. Not a single day passes without her name echoing in my heart. Losing a child is not only grieving who they were, but also grieving every future moment they never got to live. The first day of school that never came. The games she never played. The holidays where her seat is forever empty. Every joyful moment now carries a quiet ache… a lingering what if. A small hole in the heart where love and pain live side by side.
People often ask if the pain gets easier. The truth is — it doesn’t. It grows. You simply learn to carry it. You learn to live for them, in honor of them, trying each day to make them proud and keep their memory alive.
Since losing Addy, our family has grown. Three more boys have joined our home. Five brothers now — ages 15, 13, 7, 5, and twin 3-year-olds. Each of them carries Addy’s absence in a different way. Our oldest pours his heart into baseball, playing for the sister who was once his biggest fan. Our middle son keeps his feelings quiet, channeling his strength into school and sports. The younger boys never met Addy in life — a heartbreak of its own — but they know her story. They ask to see her photos. They tell us they wish their sissy were still here. And they know she was the strongest girl in the world.
Addy had the brightest spirit I’ve ever known. She endured more in her short life than most people face in a lifetime — yet she remained pure joy. She loved everyone, and somehow, everyone loved her back. Even now, messages arrive from strangers across the world — people who say Addy’s story changed them, inspired them to become organ donors, or taught them about congenital heart disease. Her life continues to save lives. Her light continues to travel.
She may not be a hero to the world.
But she is my hero.
My best friend.
My heart.
And I will always be proud to be her mom — grateful for every second, no matter how short our journey was.
Addy’s love did not end.
It simply changed form. 🤍✨
