Mark Medici, an executive with the Cox Media Group, of which The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is a part, and his wife Annalee Medici, a former Miss America contestant, wanted a large family when they fell in love. This is the story of their first-born child, Olivia, and the lasting impact she had on their lives.
Photo: Annalee speaks to a room of friends and donors who helped the Medicis raise $20,000 for a family support program at Duke University, where daughter Olivia was treated for a rare genetic disorder.
Annalee: My heart was shattered into a million and one pieces the day our daughter died. I have spent the last 10 years repairing and rebuilding it. Every piece has slowly been glued back together. It’s not pretty but it is whole. Much like a vase that was shattered, you can glue the pieces back together again and rebuild the vase. It doesn’t look the same and certainly doesn’t feel the same. But you can still use it. You can fill it up and you can put flowers in it again. This is my heart.
It’s different now. Learning how to walk through life after losing a child is a constant struggle. My hope was never to do it beautifully or with perfection. Our journey is a beautiful disaster. It really is. But it’s our journey. As parents, we have experienced the saddest, most heart-breaking loss and the greatest joys intertwined. We have fallen off course in the midst of complete wreckage. And the joys of our children, Eva and Blake, have pushed us to climb and sometimes even crawl back up again. We haven’t “survived” the death of our daughter — but we are “surviving.”
ABOUT THE STORY
If losing a child is the most difficult challenge parents can ever face, then writing about that experience can’t be far behind. Mark and Annalee Medici told me they wanted to write about losing their daughter, Olivia, to help other parents and families. They were equally candid about how their grief and recovery were intensely personal. There is no right way to grieve and no easy prescription for recovery, they told me. Indeed, when they began their journey 10 years ago, neither was certain their separate roads would lead them back together. They offer their account as a couple, but narrate it individually in alternating passages. While the details are raw, the message is hopeful. As Annalee writes, they haven’t survived the death of their daughter but they are surviving. As their editor, I thank them for the courage and honesty it took to share their story with AJC readers.
Ken Foskett
Senior Editor
personaljourneys@ajc.com
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Mark Medici was raised in Seattle and is vice president of multi-market media for Cox Media Group, a division of Cox Enterprises, which owns The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Medici joined Cox in 2009 after working for the Dallas Morning News and the (Portland) Oregonian. Annalee Medici is a Seattle native and majored in human development at Warner Pacific College in Portland, Ore. She was named Miss Washington in 1994 and competed in the Miss America pageant that year. The Medicis live in Milton with their 13-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son. The couple is grateful to Cox and the AJC for the opportunity to share their Personal Journey, and they hope their story reminds readers of the hope and love that children, past and present, bring to our lives.
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Ryon Horne is an award-winning filmmaker and video journalist. He joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 15 years ago and has been the company’s video and audio producer for eight years, covering breaking news, entertainment, sports and features.
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