My name is Jaycee Jayne Schwinn. If you are a recipient of my organ donation, I hope you are reading this because I have gifted you with life, extended your life, or have given you a better quality of life. I pray that I have given another family the chance to hold their loved one at least one more night. I pray I have given you a gift that will allow you to fulfill all that life has to offer. First, I want to tell you there is no pain in my life. My mommy and daddy trust that I am in heaven with God and that my circle of family and friends will meet again one day. They have peace knowing that my great-grandparents and grandma I never had a chance to meet are smothering me with more love than anyone could imagine.

I want to let you know a little bit about me and the type of baby girl I was. I am four months old right now. I am a beautiful, happy, patient, loving baby. My mommy and daddy love me more than anything in this world (other than my brother and sister of course). My brother's name is Jakey. He is seven years old. He is my protector, my knight, my rock. He gives me the biggest juiciest kisses and holds me more than any seven year old should want to hold a little baby. He takes pictures of me to school to shows his friends and teachers. He is a leader and if I would have had the chance to grow old with him, I know he would have been an example to me of what a man should be. My sister's name is Jolee. She is two years old right now. She is the most awesome girl in the world. She is a wild, beautiful, funny girl, who is full of love and life. She treats me like a baby doll. She kisses me goodnight, combs my hair, and loves to play with me and my baby toys. I know she would have gotten me into trouble later in life, but it would have been a blast and watching mommy and daddy try to handle us would have been really funny. My big brother and sister will have to go on without their baby. Ultimately they will find an inner peace and understanding knowing this is not the end. We will be joined together again one day in heaven and live in eternity together. Until that time comes, I want them to enjoy the life God gives, hug each other a little tighter, kiss each other a little deeper with a newfound understanding that this world truly is a fleeting moment and that in the blink of an eye or the ticking of a clock, our time could end.

Now onto the life that I lived. I was born at York Hospital in Pennsylvania on November 1, 2017. I arrived 5 weeks early, but I was a chubby little girl weighing in at 6 pounds 9 ounces and 20 inches long.  I was strong, but my lungs needed some help to get going.  I spent the first twelve  days of my life at the NICU at York Hospital as a fighter. The staff of doctors and nurses in the NICU and Labor and Delivery at York Hospital are the first reason you have my gift. They treated me with love and gave me excellent care which allowed my family the joy and honor to care and play with me for four months.

When I was finally able to come home to be with my family (humans and pets), there was nothing greater. The five of us were best friends. From going out to dinner to watching movies on the couch, we snuggled, laughed and played together all of the time. I started smiling at about two months old and was just now beginning to belly laugh and giggle at my mommy's silly faces.  One of my favorite memories was going to the playground on an unseasonably warm February day and watching my brother and sister play and have fun.

On Friday March 9th, 2018 something terrible happened to me. A terrible incident left me lifeless and left my family devastated. I want you to know that without the amazing first responders, my life would have ended at 11:45am that day. The guys from YTFD Goodwill 19 and Grantley Fire Station gave me a second shot at life. They worked so hard to put breath in my lungs and a beat back to my heart that their efforts lead to me eventually being revived. They are the second reason you have my gift.

The third reason you have my gift is because of the excellent doctors and nurses at York Hospital's ER. They had to know that my prognosis was grim, but that didn't keep them from working on me as hard as they could.  They knew I could benefit from further expertise, so they even got me ready for a helicopter ride.  With the amount of time I was without air, it was a miracle that I was able to breathe and my heart was able to beat. They, along with the flight crew that took me to Hershey, are the third reason you have my gift.

The fourth reason you have my gift is because of the doctors and nurses at Penn State Hershey. The PICU staff cared for me like I was their own little girl. They respected my family and I and even put cute little socks on my feet. Without them and their calming, confident and loving care, this horrible situation would have been much more difficult. Danielle, Shannon and Conrad, you are not the only three people involved in my care, so please don't tell the other doctors and nurses, but you were my favorites.  The faces of the people who break bad news to you or are with you during bad times are ingrained in your mind forever. But when my family recalls your faces, they don't see death, they see love and compassion. They will look back and remember the three of you as part of our family who helped us through the most difficult situation possible. Thank you.

Finally, you have my gift because of me. I loved life and laughter and I want you to as well. I was giving, loving and kind and I want you to be as well. Throughout your life, when you smile or laugh, I want you to think of me. If you're sad or hurting, I want you to know I am with you. A beautiful, chubby, adorable baby girl, right there with you, in you. I hope that gives you peace and a joy that you may never be able to comprehend or explain.

God chose to put me on this earth for a very short amount of time. We will never fully comprehend or understand why. That is beyond our earthly ability. But we need to have faith and peace that God's plan is the Master Plan. Everything he does or allows is intentional. He is in control and in charge. Satan can try to knock us down, to destroy our lives and crush us with pain, but he can't take our love, faith and our salvation. He can fill our minds with guilt and anger, but he is a liar. He has no power over us, because we will destroy him if we turn to God and walk by his side.

My parents will always love and miss me. There will be nights when sleep does not come or comes through a cloud of memories and tears. But stay strong and know I am at peace waiting for you.

Mommy, I am waiting for your hugs and snuggles (on the bright side you can finally stop stressing about pumping milk for me)

Daddy, I am waiting for your juicy kisses (on the bright side you can stop worrying about my teenage wild side)

Jakey boy, I am waiting for you to pick me up and feel your strong arms around me again (on the bright side you can focus your attention on one victim instead of two).

Jolee, I am waiting for your beautiful blond hair, your soft touch and your silly faces. (on the bright side, you will have more fingernail polish for yourself)

I love you all.

As Jaycee's dad I have only a few things to say. I know that comes as a surprise because most people think I am a mute. I usually show little emotion and speak few words but in this circumstance, I am going to try to open up a little. When I received the call that my baby girl was dead (at least that is what I thought at the time), the immediate emotions that I began to feel were calmness and peace. I will never be able to explain it well or describe exactly how I felt, but as my wife spoke the words to me I was strangely at peace. The thoughts that entered my mind were something like this:

My family is now part of a club. A very small club who has been through the ultimate grief. No matter what happened or what the outcome is, my family is forever changed. My immediate thought that day was that this will be my family's moment to show God's peace and love to the world. That the way we handle this and get through this will forever reflect the way my family and friends impression of how this type of grief is processed. I hope that we have shown that this is possible. Not only is it possible, it can be turned into a celebration. We thank God for the time he gave us with her. We pray we can show his love and peace through our handling of the situation. We pray her life will by celebrated and remembered as a gift. We pray that we do not hold hatred or feelings of anger toward anyone and that a peace and forgiveness can be found.  We pray that you can see God's love through Jaycee, through our family and through the truly awesome people that have helped us get through this along the way. Today is a day we celebrate with her. We will never get to have birthday parties with her or see her take her first step or walk her down the aisle. She will never have the chance to fulfill life's expectations, so today we celebrate for all of that. We will bundle an entire lifetime of parties and happiness into one day. Please do not be sad for her or our family. We trust the fact she is in a much better place and would not want to come back to this world for anything. We praise God for his gift to us.

Finally I want to thank a list of people and organizations:

York Hospital (ER and NICU)

Life Lion Flight Crew

Penn State Hershey PICU

The Ronald McDonald House

Our Christian Brothers and Sisters at Freedom Biker Church

Our friends and family for their love and support

The Baltimore County Police Technology and Communication Team

The rabbittransit team

York Area Regional Police (Det. Hopple)

Goodwill Fire Company

Grantley Ambulance

York County CPS

Gift of Life

Everyone who volunteered their time or services to help make this a little less difficult

The extended network of people we may never know, who prayed with us and kept us in their thoughts.

Jaycee Jayne Schwinn, infant daughter of Jesse N. and Jennifer L. (Snapp), went home to God's loving arms on Monday, March 19.  She was 4 months and 18 days old.

In addition to her parents, she is survived by her loving brother and sister, Jacob and Jolee; as well as her extended family and friends.

While this is a time of grief, the family is requesting family and friends come celebrate Jaycee Jayne's life at 1:00 PM on Sunday, March 25 at the York Township Fire Department Goodwill 19 Hall, 2318 S. Queen St., York. It will be casual attire and an atmosphere of happiness, with activities for kids, games and food.  The family would also like to thank everyone for their love and support during this time.

Please do not send flowers. Instead, the family asks that donations in Jaycee Jayne's name be made to the Ronald McDonald House of Central Pennsylvania.