Abrielle Neff Foundation: Blankie Lost

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Blankie Lost

I guess maybe I should start this post with a confession...I am 32 years old and I sleep with a blankie. Yeah, go ahead and laugh. Now let me tell you about this blankie. It's not just any run of the mill blanket, it was Abby's Blankie that she had slept with since the day she was born. Blankie was very special to her to say the least. She would try to take him with her every where she could, but mean Mommy usually made Blankie stay home. Blankie helped calm her fears, gave her comfort, and was one of her friends. Basically he was almost another appendage when she was at home. She would always put him on the couch and give him a kiss before she would leave for school, telling him she would see him later. It was always so cute. After the accident, Aunt Becci went out to our house to get Blankie to take him with us to CMH. We knew she had to have him. In fact Marc had even commented to the nurses there before we arrived that she needed her Blankie. Obviously, something this important to her had to go with her to Heaven, but we couldn't bear to part with it either. Thank goodness for my Aunt Ruth and Aunt Jean! They split Blankie in half so that we could each have part of him. Blankie never left my side for about 2 weeks. Then I had to come back to work and I too was forced to kiss Blankie goodbye in the mornings. I have slept with Blankie every night since we lost Abby and last night I could not find him. I was in a panic. I always lay him on my pillow. Where could he be? Marc had brought Elly in to bed with him to put her to sleep and then moved her to her bed later. She had gotten ahold of him along with her Pink and it was in bed with her. I thought this might have happened, but knew I couldn't go wake Elly up by looking. I couldn't hardly sleep. I tossed and turned and finally gave up and went downstairs to watch tv until after 2 am. All because of a silly blanket! I remember spending many nights hunting for Blankie (and Two Night Night - Mady's), thinking this is silly, you can just sleep without it. I guess now I understand a little better. I felt so much better after I found Blankie in Elly's crib this morning!
~Brenda

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Our Story...

Abrielle came into this world in a hurry to get started, which gave us our first glimpse at her personality. Not waiting on Dr Jane to put on gloves, only a towel to catch her with, she weighed in at six pounds fifteen ounces. From the beginning Abby had reflux, but there seemed to more than just that as she failed to gain weight. At four months we were sent to draw all kinds of labs, hoping for a solution, but all was normal. By six months of age, the vomiting became worse, almost nightly. We were keeping records of every calorie she ate, every dirty diaper, and every time she vomited. By this time Abby was refusing to eat supper most nights and would throw up her undigested lunch after bathtime at 8:00. Her food was just sitting in her tummy all day. Dr Watson sent us to Omaha Childrens Hospital to Dr Zapata a pediatric gastroenterologist to help diagnois the problem. There, over the next year and a half of her life, Abby underwent testing, treatments, and outpatient procedures. During every procedure she was given a stuffed animal to hold for comfort, even though she had Blankie with her.
To make a long story short, after the accident we discovered St Francis Hospital did not have a program like this for kids and Abby's Hugs was born.

That Tragic Day...

Thursday, March 29, 2007, began like any other school day in our household with the only exception being that it was Abby's sharing day at preschool. We had a rule that if the sharing item was not picked out the night before (which it usually wasn't), Abby had to be ready for school before she could find something to take. This morning was just like most ... nothing was picked out the night before. She hurried faster than usual that way she would have time to find something. After brushing her teeth, she ran to her room to find some clothes. I always tried to give Abby choices, but she was down to her last clean pair of capris. I gave her the option of wearing those, a pair of Gymboree Fruit Punch capris with a bright yellow shirt or jeans and a purple kitty shirt. She decided on the capri outfit which she had actually rejected every other day that week. After getting dressed, she went into Sissy's room and was playing with her LeapPad when I found her. I asked her how she wanted her hair fixed and she said "little pony". (Not that she was going to leave it in anyway) I helped her onto the sink and she dug through her basket of hair things until she found a yellow one. We went into the living room so I could sit down to brush her hair. Since sitting on my lap was now impossible, Abby stood in front of me as I pulled her hair up with the little yellow hair tie. She ran to her room and began looking for something to bring for sharing. She came out with her Little People's Noah's Ark set stuffed full of extra toys. Being a mean Mommy, I said, You can only bring one toy. Aww, was the response as she took the ark back to her room to look for something else. I went on about my routine of making my lunch and everything else to be ready to leave for work. Mady and I headed out to the Expedition and Abby was not following behind. I went back inside to find her and Marc on their way from her room with her big "bobbycat" (bobcat skidloader) for sharing. They had been looking for the scoop that attaches to the front but ran out of time. They decided that just the bobbycat would work. Marc helped buckle Abby in her car seat. Because she was so small we still used the 5-point harness and not just the seatbelt so she required some help. As we left the house, Marc pulled out ahead of the girls and I onto the gravel road. Just around the first set of curves past our house, I slowed down so we could watch the turkeys fly across the road. I am not sure if Abby saw them or not, but she said she did. We continued on, oblivious to our fate that lie ahead.

last added to 10/29 ...this I will add to as I am able ...thanks for understanding.

The Sentence

On June 25, 2008, Ryan C Sundermann was sentenced to 6 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections on charges of involuntary manslaughter. Sundermann wrecklessly caused the death of Abrielle Neff in a motor vehicle collision on March 29, 2007. Sundermann was charged with failing to maintain proper control of his vehicle, failure to drive on the right half of the roadway and operated a motor vehicle after consuming alcohol.
Sundermann was previously convicted of Driving While Intoxicated and Failure to Drive on the Right Half of the Roadway on April 25, 2006 and sentenced to 2 years probation, 12 days in jail, and a $300 fine. On December 19, 2006, Sundermann was again convicted of Excessive Blood Alcohol Content-Prior Offender which he received a Suspended Execution of Sentence of 180 days, was continued on 2 years probation and received a fine.