the world isn't fair

During my sophomore year of college, my good friend Deanne was an RA in the same dorm, and on the same floor that we lived in during our freshman year. One of her residents was a girl named Heather, and I liked her instantly! We all did a lot together and she almost joined the same sorority as I was in, but instead, the DGs got her. One of the first things I think of when I think of Heather is that over the summer, she and I would use AIM to talk to each other, back when you had to actually log into AOL, and her screen name was "EatChowChow." Don't ask.

We eventually lost touch, but through the magic of MySpace, found each other. A few years ago Heather got married, and soon after that, pregnant. Her daughter Maddie was born three months premature, and struggled to make it out of the NICU. But she did, and was one of the cutest, happiest babies I've ever seen. I got to follow Maddie's journey through Heather's website and it made me smile.

On Monday, Maddie was admitted to the hospital with trouble breathing, which wasn't altogether alarming considering she had struggled with her breathing througout her 1 1/2 year life. When I logged onto Twitter this morning, I had a "tweet" that announced Maddie's passing last night. I immediately felt a wave of sadness pass over me and started crying.

No one in this world deserves to go through what I can only imagine Heather, and her husband Mike, are going through at this very moment. It's just not fair.

Heather was very active with the March of Dimes, and if you are at all affected by this story, perhaps making a donation in Maddie's name might make it hurt a little less.