A Story of Loss, Love, and God’s Perfect Timing

(Revised with correct date)

When I was just seventeen years old, I faced a kind of heartbreak no child is ever prepared for. On December 6th, 1990, God called my mama home after her battle with cancer. At that age, you still need your mother for everything — your guidance, your safety, your comfort, your place in the world. Losing her felt like losing my anchor, my best friend, and a piece of myself.

There were days I didn’t know how life could move forward without her.
There were moments the grief felt bigger than I was.
And there were years I carried that ache quietly in my heart.

But even in our deepest sorrow, God is already working on the blessing we haven’t seen yet.

I didn’t know then — at seventeen, broken and grieving — that God was writing a story far bigger than my pain.
I didn’t know that decades later, on that very same date that once marked the hardest day of my life…
He would give me one of the greatest gifts I would ever receive.

My granddaughter, Alora Grace Paulette, was born on December 6th — the very day my mama left this world.

A day of loss became a day of life.
A day of heartbreak became a day of hope.
A day marked by grief was rewritten by God’s goodness.

And her name…
Alora means “God’s light.”
Grace reflects the mercy and love only He can give.
Paulette honors the beautiful woman I lost far too soon.

God didn’t replace my mama — no one ever could — but He redeemed that date with a love so deep, so unexpected, so perfect in His timing that only He could have written it.

Now, when I look at Alora Grace, I’m reminded:

 God restores what pain tried to steal.
 God heals in ways we never imagine.
 God’s timing is never late and never accidental.
 What once was a day of sorrow is now a day of celebration.

Her birthday is a reminder that God’s plan has always been better than mine.
Even when I didn’t understand.
Even when the grief felt impossible.
Even when I couldn’t see the future He was preparing.

From loss came legacy.
From heartbreak came hope.
From the hardest day came one of the brightest lights in my life.

Alora Grace Paulette — the little girl who carries my mama’s name, her date, and a piece of her spirit — is living proof that God writes the most beautiful endings to the stories that hurt us the most.