218036 Create Memorial

 

button
 
The love between a mother & child is undefinable, yet full of meaning.-Julie Turner


This memorial website was created to remember our dearest Jacob Daniel Turner who was born in St Paul MN on August 23, 2000 and passed away on September 17, 2002 at the age of 2. You will live forever in our memories and our hearts.

Jacob was born full term.  We were expecting a healthy baby.  We had a textbook pregnancy with no complications.  The ultrasound appeared to be normal.  Jacob was born with a cleft lip and palate and was diagnosed at 6 months of age with Semi-lobar Holoprosencephaly. Holoprosencephaly is a brain disorder.  The brain fails to split into two hemispheres and instead fuses.   We were told that Jacob may not live past his first birthday.  Jacob had many health issues related to this disease, including seizures.  Jacob struggled with many everyday things that we take for granted such as eating.  Jacob spent a great amount of time in the hospital due to sugery and  health problems.

Despite his health problems, Jacob had a big, beautiful smile that would make our day a little brighter.

 

Jacob was a little fighter and he lived almost a month past his 2nd birthday. 

 

We were very blessed with good doctors, nurses and therapists.  Our doctors could not have cared for Jacob and for us any better than they did.  Our wonderful pediatrician, stayed with Jacob through the night.  She could not have shown more compassion for our family.  Jacob had many therapists who were so dedicated to their jobs and cared incredibly so, about Jacob.  We will never forget the support they gave us.  We are also eternally grateful to Children's Hospital, where Jacob died.  Jacob spent a lot of time there during his 2 years of life.  The support that we received from the staff at Children's was incredible. 

We are also thankful for having our families support us throughout the 2 years of Jacob's life.  We know that many of you also spent a lot of time at the hospital with us, watching us all suffer and hope for a miracle. 

 

Grief is often misunderstood by many.  People who have never experienced the loss of a loved one don't understand grief.  Grief is always there.  It's not something that we "get over."   It doesn't ever go away.  The way we grieve changes as time passes.  We never really move on and get over our loss.  We find ways to work the grief into our daily lives and we remember our loved ones in small ways each day. 

 

 

SEASONS CHANGE

I find that as the seasons change, I miss Jacob more during those times.  The change of seasons is a sign of time passing.  As time passes, those memories that were once so fresh become memories that I have to dig a little deeper for.  I remember with each season, how healthy or ill Jacob was.  With each season, comes a holiday when Jacob was most likely in the hospital.  The change of season is hard for those of us grieving. 

 

If you would like to learn more about Holoprosencephaly, you can link to http://hpe.stanford.edu/

 

If you would like to make a donation in memory of Jacob, you can do so through the Carter Centers for Brain Research (website link above).




Quick Gallery