LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Any birthday is a big deal, but for Ocean Robertson’s family, three is a huge milestone.
"I really never, to be honest, thought I was going to celebrate three with her," said her grandmother, Sherry Ancrum. "It was told she wouldn't even make it to see one year old, so this is really a blessing,"
Ocean was just five months old when someone fired into the car she was riding in in Louisville with her mom, Molly Ancrum. Molly was killed. Little Ocean was shot in the head.
"In a way, she really ain't even supposed to be here," Ancrum said
But, she is here, celebrating her third birthday with her big brothers and sisters. Ancrum took the children in when their mother died.
"I can only do what I know Molly wanted me to do - keep them all together and raise them. It's hard, but you know, I have good feelings," Ancrum said.
Ocean's partially blind, she can't use her left arm, and her legs give her some trouble. She doesn't talk quite yet, but her family believes she's figuring it out.
"If they say, 'What do you expect of her?' I only expect what she gives me. That's all I can expect. She gives me something totally different almost every day," Ancrum said. "I mean, I cry all the time. Every little thing she do just winds me up and I'm so excited,"
It's been more than two years now, since Ocean and her siblings lost their mom. The younger ones don't remember her much at all, so Sherry and the kids have "memory days", where they talk about the things they do remember.
"I want them to know that Molly loved them and if she could, she would have came back and got them," she said.
Ancrum says she can see their mother in all of them, supporting one another, and making sure Ocean's got plenty of people she can count on.
