Andrew: Milly's Eulogy

We are so very honoured to share this touching and emotional eulogy with you, written by Milly's Daddy and read out at her funeral. Thank you to Milly's Mummy and Daddy for allowing us to share such a personal, brave and beautiful tribute to their little girl.

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I’d first like to thank you all for coming today and honouring the memory of our baby girl. Today is a hard day, we all know that, but we hope to see more smiles than tears today as we try to celebrate a short life filled with love.

With all of that in mind I wanted to say a few words today about my beautiful baby girl Milly Josie Mills. I want to tell you about the things she liked and didn’t like. I don't want to give you the sad story of a most human tragedy because that is not how I want you to remember her. Moreover I want to make you smile and make you understand just how loved this baby girl was going to be.

We had plans to call Milly, Penny Anne. Instead she will always be Milly, simply because that is what we had always called her, Princess Milly Mills. Tyler and Harry sometimes called her Bubby 2, in reference to Harry being called Bubby before he arrived. Harry sometimes called her Princess Fat Pants, which I’m sure sometimes caused a disapproving wiggle. But she was always Milly. And she will always be our Milly.

It often seems that the tragedy of babies that are born sleeping is the perceived lack of a full relationship and that your mourning is based upon the absence of that relationship. Whilst I am sure that can often be the case, I can tell that is certainly not the case with ourselves and Milly.

We knew Milly very well and I’d like to spend some time illustrating to you just how much we knew her...

● Milly was, like many girls, a lover of chocolate. If Kelly indulged in just a small amount of chocolate. We saw loads of wiggles and jiggles. As if urging Mum to "GO GET MORE". A request which Kel was very happy for me to oblige, anytime day or night.

● Milly was not a fan of cold hands however. When I came home from work and had a little hold of Milly in Mummy’s tummy, if my hands were cold she would visibly move to the other side. I could then move my hands to Milly and she would move again. It was a little bit like our first game of tickles.

● Harry seemed to have a theory that Milly could hear better when he spoke through Mum’s belly button. From that we learnt that Milly always had a strong reaction to hearing her brothers voice. Wiggles and Jiggles a plenty. I think she knew that that voice was the sound of fun and laughter and playing all day.

● Milly, like her youngest brother before her, seemed to want to kick out at Tyler’s touch. In fact I remember a six year old Tyler placing an ear to Mum’s tummy only to have the then Bubby and now Harry kick him swiftly in the head. But Tyler still loved to have a hold of Milly and feel her wiggle and jiggle around Mum’s tummy. I think she knew that those hands were those of both her loving elder brother and soon to be “miniDad” and “Chief Protector”.

● Milly loved McFlurry’s. It may have had a lot to do with Kelly loving McFlurry’s. But love them she did and that’s why Kel’s work Friends had called her Milly McFlurry Mills.

● Milly and Mum had an excellent working relationship all day long, well until bedtime at least. Milly would happily be rocked to sleep all day by Mum as she nested and organised and made many lists (Kelly does love to make a few lists). But come bedtime she would be wide awake wiggling and jiggling in glee as she could no doubt hear us laughing as she moved. Was this Princess Milly adoring her limelight? Maybe. And we loved it.

● Milly was definitely going to be Daddy’s Girl. When she was having one of her many wriggles and causing Kel some discomfort Kel would always be amazed at how she would settle immediately when I placed my hands on her (unless they were cold obviously). Daddy’s girl and she always will be.

● When Harry was born he went to Water babies with mum and ever since has loved water. We could already tell Milly was going to be another water baby. When Mum had a bath I could pour a jug of water on to her belly and Milly would spring to life kicking and wiggling and jiggling.

As you can see we already knew Milly so well. She was already a huge part of our family and she always will be. We will miss her, but we will be glad for how much we knew her and how much she lit up our lives.