It is hot and sunny again on this 8th day of August, and for the third year in a row, we have been spared by summer showers and heavy winds.
As Daniel and I pull up on Lexie Lane, I see Paula standing by the table that was brought out to the lawn the day before. The kids are playing in the grass, chasing through clouds of little flying bugs. The way the sun is shining on these insects makes them look like tiny stars that seem to have gathered at large, dancing in unison to farewell the sun.
Paula looks busy, counting the lanterns one last time. “Twenty-nine plus two extra, just in case a couple won’t fly,” she replies as I inquire for the total.
I can tell she is anxious. She has been preparing for this day for months, and tonight everything has to work out perfectly. Rain or winds would have definitely put a damper on this.
More people arrive as the sun is kissing the Earth good night. Lexie’s grandparents, her brother Daniel and sister Aubri, her bonus dad David, as well as her little niece and nephew, friends, and me—her sister-in-law—have all gathered together just for her. I think of her dad Alex, who lives all the way in Arizona, and other family and friends that couldn’t make it out this year.
I look around the familiar faces smiling and conversing softly. I know inside we all are feeling the same loss. But I can hardly fathom the storm that is blustering inside Paula, Lexie’s mom, which she is so bravely pushing through. How she is holding up is beyond me. But no matter how hard this is, she and the rest of us are determined to celebrate Lexie’s life every year on this day.
Because on August 8, 1991, Alexandra “Lexie” Denise McCarty was born! And boy was she fierce, and fun, and so creative with the greatest dark humor one can have. She lived her best life with Cystic Fibrosis, a fatal progressive genetic condition that, over time, causes severe damage to the lungs and the digestive systems. She fought extremely hard and pushed much further than she ever wanted because she loved us all so much. And she wanted to have as much time as possible with her fiancé Sam, who also had the same condition.
The Cystic Fibrosis Awareness color is purple, and purple has always been Lexie’s favorite color, too. When we release the purple heart shaped lantern each year in memory of Lexie, I think of all the other CF warriors, Lexie’s fellow “cysters” and “fyBros” (sisters and brothers with Cystic Fybrosis), dealing with this condition on a daily base. I think of the ones who are no longer with us, and of all the parents, families, and friends who have to live with the loss of their loved one to this condition. And I especially think of Sam, who passed only a few months after her.
As the vibrant reds and yellows of the evening light now fade into royal blue, it has finally gotten dark enough to light the purple heart shaped lantern—one for each year since she was born. One by one, all 29 lanterns take off into the sky. We all watch them get smaller and smaller, turning into little stars on the horizon, until the darkness of the night swallows them completely.
“Happy birthday, Lex,” David shouts.
“Happy birthday,” repeats Paula, fighting her tears. “Happy birthday, Lexie, in heaven!”
