14

I've been in denial. I totally blocked it out and avoided the date. It's not like I didn't know it was looming-it was one of the best days of my life. I have been filling my calendar, writing in appointments, meetings and other upcoming events but avoiding that one particular day-February 5th. It's amazing what we as humans can ignore when we put our minds to it. Then today I did it, I flipped the calendar to February and drew a small heart on the 5th. It's Mary's birthday. I can't even accept it or believe it; the fact that she should be turning 14. How can this even be? She will be turning 14 in Heaven and not having her 14th birthday here on earth. I truly don't know how this is even my reality. She should be picking out make up and getting a manicure. We should be shopping at her favorite stores and getting Starbucks together. We should be planning a fun weekend with friends and talking about boys and music. Instead I am trying to avoid thinking about this day because it brings sadness and tears and rips my soul in two. On this day to honor her memory, if you wish, you can do like last year and donate $14 in Mary's honor. It will go into our fund and 100% will go toward AML research and trials for children. You wouldn't believe the difference it made last year. Seeing 100's of $13 donations made a big difference but not only that it also said to us that so many cared and remembered Mary. We will celebrate Mary on Sunday.  We plan to get a big pink unicorn cake, release 14 pink balloons toward heaven and cheer on the Falcons while eating her favorite meal of steak and shrimp. We will remember her best times, her happy times, the times we laughed and loved. I will cry and cry a lot because that is what I do.  I am still sad and heartbroken that my sweetest Mary is not here with me. My life will never be complete without her.
I decided to look up the significance of the number 14. I know it has to be important. 14 would have been a big year for her. Mary would be in 8th grade and almost ready for high school. She would be taller, more beautiful and as vibrant as  ever. 12 years with her was just not enough. This is what I found out about the number 14 if you are also interested.
Valentine’s Day, of course is celebrated on February 14 every year. It is a day for romance and love.
The Fourteen Stations of the Cross are stations for meditation used by many Catholics in the Roman Catholic Church.
The stations consist of fourteen crosses and may also have pictures.
The believers go from one station to the next saying prayers.
These are the fourteen stations approved by Pope Benedict XVI:
1. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
2. Jesus betrayed by Judas and arrested
3. Jesus condemned by the Sanhedrin
4. Jesus denied by Peter
5. Jesus is judged by Pilate
6. Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns
7. Jesus takes up His cross
8. Jesus is helped by Simon to carry His cross
9. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
10. Jesus is crucified
11. Jesus promises His kingdom to the repentant thief
12. Jesus entrusts Mary and John to each other
13. Jesus dies on the cross
14. Jesus is laid in the tomb
 In Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera “Hansel and Gretel”, there is the prayer of the lost children: “The Fourteen Angels”:
When at night I go to sleep,                                  
fourteen angels watch to keep,
two my head are guarding,
two my feet are guiding;
two upon my right hand,
two upon my left hand.
two who warmly cover,
two who o’er me hover,
two to whom ’tis given
to guide my steps to heaven.
The number 14 represents deliverance or salvation and is used twenty-two times in the Bible. The term "14th" is found 24 times in scriptures.
The fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover, when God delivered the firstborn of Israel from death. Some 430 years earlier, on the night of the 14th day of the first month, God made two covenant promises to Abraham — one of the physical seed, Isaac, and his descendants, and one of the spiritual seed, Jesus Christ, and the sons of God who would come through Him, who would shine like the stars of heaven (Matthew 13:43). On the day portion of the 14th, God confirmed the promises with a special covenant sacrifice.
"After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.' But Abram said, 'Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?' . . .
"And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 'This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.' Then He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your descendants be.'
"Then He said to him, 'I am the Lord, who brought you out of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.' And he said, 'Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?' So He said to him, 'Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. . . . ' " (Genesis 15:1-2, 4-5, 7-9, NKJV)
On the 14th day of the first month in 30 A.D. Jesus Christ, God manifested in the flesh, the only begotten Son of God the Father, and the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world, was crucified as the perfect sacrifice to save mankind from sin. Jesus' death on Passover completed His ministry in the flesh.
Seven represents completion - thus 7 + 7 = 14, indicating a double completion:
1. Jesus' ministry in the flesh was completed.

2. Jesus' sacrifice ended or fulfilled the need for animal sacrifices.

I would personally say the number 14 seems to be pretty significant. Mary, I will miss you forever and ever until I am with you again!
*I have attached a picture of a pink unillama and the number 14 you can change to your profile picture if you like. It is something Mary would find hilarious and a reminder of her birthday. I am also attaching the link to our fund if you want to give ❤️

www.curechildhoodcancer.org/united