PHOENIX — Little Luka Kemp is six days old and already filling — and healing — the hearts of his family.
“Christmas just became a wonderful thing for us right now. I believe in miracles, so I believe in signs. It didn’t just happen, I’m sorry,” said an emotional Marija Kemp, Luka's mom.
Her tears are joyful, but they're also intertwined with heartbreaking loss.
In 2010, Christian, a new father at the time and Marija's husband, received a devastating call on Christmas morning. His grandma, Velora, unexpectedly died in her sleep. She was 60.
The tears of joy intertwined with the thought of loss. Back in 2010, new father Christian, Marija’s husband, received a devastating call Christmas morning.
“We found out super early that morning so there was no way to prepare ourselves for that,” he said.
A day meant for celebration, now turned to mourning.
“It’s hard when it’s one of those holidays when everybody’s really happy and really excited and, you know, you're trying to get into it but you’re a beat below everyone else,” said Rhonda, Christian's mom.
For the last 11 years, Christmas is a day met is now typically met with mixed emotions. Up until at least six days ago when her grandson decided to make an early appearance.
“This Christmas was the first Christmas where I didn’t start the day crying,” Rhonda said.
Christian and Maria were expecting to deliver their first child on New Year's Eve, but fate had a different plan. Soon, the pain of Christmas Day would soon be transformed by a 7.4-pound baby boy.
“It could take three days, four days, but he came Christmas morning almost identical to the time we found out the news about my grandmother,” Christian said.
“I didn’t know how much we needed this, you know,” grandma Rhonda said.
An amazing life lost and a new one beginning with stories he'll eventually be told about his grandma Velora.
“One day he’s going to ask us about Christmas miracles. We’re going to tell him about eleven years before he was born and about the amazing woman she was, and how she helped bring him to us, how he’s our little miracle,” Christian said.
