









| www.EverlastingButterfly.com Yahoo Webhosting |

| On July 29th in Gilford NH, Martina McBride sang "She's A Butterfly", a song that we have considered Ava's since her birth. It is not part of her show, but our friend Jim & Auntie Lily held up a sign made by McKenzie & mom requesting that she sing this song in memory of Ava. Jim was pulled from the crowd to the aisle and had a conversion with Martina in the middle of the concert. Jim asked her to sing "She's A Butterfly", and her response was "I haven't done it in a while, but I'll give it a shot". Melanie was originally going to the concert too, but we had a Support Group Meeting scheduled for the same day. Luckily enough, Auntie Lily called us on her cell phone and we were able to listen to her sing Ava's song. It was very emotional for us, but in a good way. We attended Martina's concert earlier this year in Lowell, and had hoped that she would sing the song because we sent her an email explaining Ava's story and what the song meant to us. Unfortunately she didn't , so when we heard her singing the song that truly helped us get through the struggle and loss of our daughter, we were incredibly touched. We actually had a couple of musicians sing this song at Ava's burial, while releasing a couple dozen balloons, one of which was a butterfly balloon. So we would like to thank Jim, Auntie Lily, and of course Martina for making this happen. We are forever grateful, and will never forget this moment. Martina has meant so much to us, and shortly after Ava had passed ,family and friends have written letters to her about Ava's journey. We have received signed autographs addressed to us stating her sympathy. Months later Martina gave birth to her third daughter, and you can imagine our amazement when we found out that she named her Ava. Now we do not know if there is a connection, and believe me, we have asked. So even though it hasn't been confirmed, we have confirmed it in our hearts. Another one of Martina's songs that has meant so much to us is " In My Daughter's Eyes", and during her performance a butterfly flew across the stage. So we thought that it would be fitting to have this song playing in the background. Plus we already have "She's A Butterfly" playing on the Butterfly Garden page. Again thank you to everyone!!!!! Love, Melanie and Troy |

