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Josh kept reaffirming me that Ann Briggs was going to touch more people than we could ever fathom, and it was beginning show. After two and ½ months of rotating doctors visits between Dr. Glenn Gallaspy at Springhill Hospital and Dr. Susan Baker at CWH, and two hospital stays at USA CWH, our little girl was still hanging on. After all the WHYs, we soon realized that this was God’s way of preparing us to let her go. He took the time we had with her to renew our marriage, our Faith and relationships with our friends and family. On November 6th, at my 35th week doctor’s visit with Dr. Gallaspy, a heart beat was not found on our baby girl. At that moment, Josh and I looked into each other’s eyes, and we knew our prayers had been answered. Our gift from God was now an ANGEL! As rough as the rollercoaster had been, we couldn’t have asked for a smoother ride. Everything went as we had wanted and prayed. Delivery, our time with our baby, and her burial couldn’t have been more peaceful.  During my recovery, my Auburn Phi Mu sorority sisters, lead by Kristen Stone Lane, were busy planning on what they could do to honor Ann Briggs. Josh and I were soon surprised by them with a Book Drive in her memory! What a wonderful idea for her legacy to live on and to also touch children and family members for years to come through the gift of literature! We were thrilled and Josh once again reaffirmed me… “I told you our little girl was going to be special.”
They organized book drops in Atlanta, Birmingham, Auburn, and Mobile, and also collected books by mail. I began to get emails from Kristen of the positive response of the book drive and Josh and I were ecstatic! As soon as I began to feel better I wanted to be part of this excitement and help where I could. Most of you that know me, know I love a project, and this was one that I knew would help me with the healing process. The Auburn Phi Mu Alumnae and I began to be  contacted by local Phi Mu collegiate chapters, alumnae, friends, family, organizations, churches, businesses across the country of how they could get involved. Once again…our support became overwhelming! Josh and I set a personal goal of 500 books and with everyone’s help; we surpassed our goal by far our expectations. After Ann Briggs’ passing, we created an Endowment at the University of South Alabama Women’s & Children’s Hospital, to honor her and give back to the hospital for our exceptional care. The Ann Briggs Memorial Book Endowment is used to supply books for women and children being treated at USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital, as well as for their families attending them during their stay. This way, monetary gifts that are made in Ann Briggs’ memory, will be used to purchase for the hospital in perpetuity.
Our hope is for every child entering the hospital to have a book of their very own. To date, approximately 6,000 books have been given in memory of Ann Briggs. |
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