Ellie loved bubbles.
Her love for bubbles began early on when she was intubated in the hospital and waiting out the weekend until she was scheduled to get her trach. She was uncomfortable and would stare up at us with heart wrenching eyes and her face would scrunch up in a silent cry around her breathing tube. Listening to music calmed her so we started playing different lullabies and classical music for her on the iPad. My mom found a video on youtube that played the "Lullaby" song (Ellie's favorite) over and over with bubbles floating and bouncing around the screen. Ellie would calm down the instant she heard her song start and would start jerking her head around looking for the bubbles until she found the screen and then she would lay still, completely entranced by the bubbles. This became Ellie's lullaby and rarely a day (or more accurately night) went by that Ellie didn't watch her bubbles for a little bit.
Her love for bubbles began early on when she was intubated in the hospital and waiting out the weekend until she was scheduled to get her trach. She was uncomfortable and would stare up at us with heart wrenching eyes and her face would scrunch up in a silent cry around her breathing tube. Listening to music calmed her so we started playing different lullabies and classical music for her on the iPad. My mom found a video on youtube that played the "Lullaby" song (Ellie's favorite) over and over with bubbles floating and bouncing around the screen. Ellie would calm down the instant she heard her song start and would start jerking her head around looking for the bubbles until she found the screen and then she would lay still, completely entranced by the bubbles. This became Ellie's lullaby and rarely a day (or more accurately night) went by that Ellie didn't watch her bubbles for a little bit.
We discovered how to use her love of bubbles for good when a speech therapist started blowing bubbles in an attempt to win Ellie over and get her to cooperate with a swallow evaluation (remember her intense stranger anxiety). It worked! As soon as she saw the bubbles Ellie was mesmerized and stopped crying, but as soon as the bubbles stopped she started crying again. We began using bubbles as a way to distract Ellie and keep her calm when we needed her cooperation for different tests and procedures.
At home, Ellie was always full of squeaks and chuckles when I held her in my arms and the big kids ran around us blowing bubbles. On the long winter days when it was too cold to go outside, we would sometimes squeeze into our tight, little bathroom where Brynn and Miles would stand in the bathtub and I would sit on the toilet with Ellie on my lap and we would fill the bathroom with bubbles.
When her first birthday rolled around I decided it would be perfect to have a big bubble bash full of different bubble activities for her party.
This summer during therapy we used bubbles as motivation to get her to sign "more". We would blow some bubbles and then ask if she wanted more. We would help her sign more and then blow more bubbles. She was starting to pick up on it and I was so excited to see what other signs she would learn.
The day after Ellie passed away my best friend, Stacie, took a picture of her girls blowing bubbles in memory of Ellie and posted it to instagram with #bubblesforellie. The pictures above are just a small sample of the many pictures of friends, family, and even complete strangers blowing bubbles for Ellie that flooded my facebook and instagram feed over the next week. It was such a simple thing, but it really meant so much to us. Thank you to everyone!
My amazingly talented friend, Ali, made this darling bubble wreath that we hung at Ellie's viewing and now have hanging in our home as a fun and cheerful reminder of Ellie. Thanks Ali and Katie.
My aunt Marilyn made this adorable cake for the luncheon after Ellie's
graveside service. It was perfect for Ellie since bath time and bubbles were at the top of her favorite list.
Last, but definitely not least, when we returned to Omaha our ward had organized a "Bubbles to Heaven" event for our community in Omaha to show their love and support for us. It was a cold and windy afternoon, but that didn't stop a large group of people from coming. I was amazed at the amount of people there, after all, we have only lived here for 3 months. There were families from our ward, neighbors, the missionaries, Brynn and Mason's teachers from school and some classmates, even their school principal was there. I had been so scared to come back to Omaha where not many people knew Ellie and I feared she would be completely forgotten. This amazing show of support reassured me that her memory will live on in Omaha.
Thank you to everyone involved.
I'll finish with the banner my aunt made for the luncheon.
* In November 2014, bubbles were inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame for being a classic, inexpensive and safe toy that has been around for centuries and sells over 200 million bottles a year. It seemed fitting and timely that bubbles were recognized for their greatness the year Ellie died.*
