When each of my children was born, I started a journal for them. Since they couldn’t talk for themselves, express their feelings or make their own observations, I did it for them. Maybe I shouldn't have, but they don't seem to have minded. Yesterday, I read this entry at Alex's memorial service. It's the first entry I ever wrote for him, dated July 11, 2007.
"Hi! My name is Alessandro. I was born 2 weeks ago on June 26, 2007. I weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.

Right after I was born I was taken to Children's Hospital because I have Tetralogy of Fallot. There are excellent doctors here who can help my heart work better. I stayed 5 days at the Children's Hospital where I was looked after by doctors and nurses. They were able to get a good look at my heart by doing special tests. They did an echocardiogram, a CT scan and a catheterization.

I was born at 11:46pm Tuesday night just 14 minutes before my due date. On Saturday I began drinking mommy's milk from a bottle and later I started nursing with Mommy. On Sunday my parents were able to take me home.

I'm going to have to go back to the hospital because the doctors have to fix my heart, but right now I am very happy to be with my family. I have a mommy and a daddy and older brother named Anthony and two older sisters - Martina and Jenny. They all think I am the cutest thing in the world. Jenny says she wants to marry me; Martina says she can't believe I was in mommy's tummy; Anthony is glad that the boys in our family are no longer out-numbered by girls.

Everybody says I look just like Anthony when he was a baby.

I don't know. I just like to eat and sleep and poop. I'm a good baby. I love my family and I am so excited to be alive. My daddy loves me most of all, I think, because he was born with a heart defect too. He wants me to know that life is still wonderful even when one's body is not perfect.

He gave me his name, Max, as my middle name so my full name is Alessandro Max D'Ambrosio. I like my name. I can go by Alessandro or Alex. My sister's began calling me Alex even before I was born and even before my parents had decided on a name. My dad likes the name Alessandro because his favorite soccer player is Del Piero - Alessandro Del Piero. He plays for my dad's favorite soccer team - Juventus.

One other reason my daddy likes the name Alessandro is because the heart doctor who took care of him in Chicago when he was a boy was named Alexander - Alexander Muster."