Abigail's Story

Abigail (Abby)



We doubt that many of you know where the inspiration for Dakota Abigail came from, so here is a wonderful story, of a wonderful girl, whose life we hope will influence our daughter as she grows up. I have been working on this post for weeks, as it is one of the hardest things I've ever done.

We lived at 7201 B Atlanta Drive in Mississippi. Our house was considered a duplex, although we didn't share walls with our neighbors, just car ports. We were one of the first houses you see when you enter the neighborhood and we were directly across the street from the housing office, which made it convenient on the first of the month when rent was due. The house that shared our carport, 7201 A Atlanta Drive, was called a hospitality home. Much like our house in Little Rock, the hospitality home in MS was fully furnished by the housing office. We were told that the hospitality home was for families waiting on their home to be cleaned or painted or if their home items had not yet arrived. We met a few different families who stayed there for weeks at a time, including the 14th Operations Group Commander and his wife.

One week, in the late winter/early spring of 2009, we had a knock at our door. It was a member of the Reserve unit stationed at Columbus AFB explaining that one of the their families had lost their home in the night to a fire and would be moving in later that day. And so began our friendship with this family. We first met the mom, Hope, in passing under the carports. The second she laid eyes on Jaxon, she insisted he meet her daughter, Abigail (Abby). We would eventually learn that they were woken in the night by a loud popping noise, which they quickly discovered was wood cracking as it burned. The entire family, including dad, David, mom, Hope, sons; Mark and Wade, and daughter, Abigail, narrowly managed to escape the house before it burned to the ground. They were able to rescue their beloved pet bird, Rosie, but lost their dog, Scooby and house cats to the fire, along with everything else in their home.


We quickly got to know these new neighbors and almost immediately, Jaxon and Abby became inseparable. At the time, Jaxon had a two-word vocabulary: Dada and Mama. He started spending a lot of time next door and within a few days, he was saying, "Ahh-bee" (Abby). And so, his third word was Abby and we knew almost immediately that this little lady was a special influence in Jaxon's young life. Soon we would find Jaxon asking for Abby and knocking on her front door anytime he was outside. Abby was ten years old at the time. Now, most ten year olds might be irritated with a 1 1/2 year constantly asking them to play, but Abby always had time for Jaxon. She really didn't see age.

We discovered very early in our friendship with this family that we had a lot in common. The obvious is our Air Force pilots, but the coolest thing we have in common is our desires to serve the Lord. And this desire shown from the family in the way they lived their lives daily, especially Abby. Abby wanted everyone she came in to contact with to know that she lives her life for Christ and she loved to share this with others.

Abby at the hospitality home on base with her new puppy, Mercy.



Jaxon playing in Mercy's crate while we were dog-sitting one week.




One particular week in July changed our lives forever. Abby had just turned 11 in May and was enjoying a busy summer of riding horses, swimming at the pool and playing with her new puppy, Mercy. Jaxon went to Abby's house one Monday and enjoyed sharing a snack with her on her couch. The next day, Tuesday, I talked with Hope in the yard as we were taking our dogs out and she mentioned that Abby hadn't been feeling well all day and had complained of a headache. By Wednesday, when Abby was still complaining of a headache, Hope took her to the doctor where they sent her home with a prescription. Friday morning, Abby woke up incoherent and was rushed to the local hospital. She wasn't there but a few hours, when she was life-flighted to the children's hospital in Memphis due to a diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. We spoke briefly with the family, arranging how I would care for their dog and bird while they were with Abby. This would start a very long weekend for me. Jason was away on a cross-country flight and would not return till late Sunday night, it was only Friday night. I would soon learn that Abby was pronounced dead in Memphis sometime on Saturday and the doctors began harvesting her organs for donation. Just weeks before, Abby had had a discussion with her mom about being an organ donor. She shared with Hope how important it was and that she wanted to be an organ donor. Never in a million years would I imagine Hope thought this conversation would be relevant.






We lost a very special girl that weekend, but she made a huge impact on many lives before going to meet her Jesus. A few months after her death, Abby's parents began brainstorming ways they could help Abby leave her legacy. They had just finished the house plans for their new home and decided the property their home sits on would be the perfect place for a Christian Camp. So the dream of Abby Acres was created.

Hope and David decided to build Abby Acres on the back of their property where they will host girls each summer for a week-long Christian camp. They plan to build a bunk house with beds, bathrooms and a lounging area. The plan is for the camp to be of no cost to its campers. They hope to invite local girls who otherwise couldn't afford church camp and give them the same opportunities they might have had at church camp.



The weekend of what would have been Abby's 12th birthday, we drove to Mississippi for a ground-breaking ceremony for Abby Acres. Abby's parents shared with the crowd the plans and dreams they have for Abby Acres Christian Camp. They shared the blueprints for the bunk house, had examples of the bunkbeds, and gave the kids rides on Abby's horses.



Jaxon being led on one of the horses.


Jaxon and his Daddy checking out the blueprint for the bunk house. The first thing he noticed on the poster were the pictures of Abby. He pointed them out to Daddy and said, "Ah-bee!"



Hope and Abby's horseback riding instructor look on as David tells the crowd the plans for Abby Acres.



David addressing the crowd. It was a VERY hot day in Mississippi.




He's just too darn cute for words. We pray that he will teach his sister all about precious Abby as she grows up.



Dakota Abigail