Sources of Service

I know several of you have read the blog audreycaroline.blogspot.com and been amazed and inspired by the mother of Audrey Caroline. I first found this blog through Jenni's blog - thanks Jenni - and fell in love with it. My connection to this blog was largely because we had just learned about my nephew and the complications he was facing in the womb. I loved that this sweet family, who I only know through their blog, had the opportunity to have so many beautiful pictures with their baby girl and that all their pictures will not be sad ones.

One of the things I learned as I did some research for my sister is that many families who face a trial like Angie and my sister have only Polaroid’s of their babies to carry them through their loss. Ironically I related to this in a small way because I was handed a Polaroid of Jeremy before he was transferred by ambulance out of the hospital where he was born and where I had to stay, to the hospital where he would have surgery at one day old. I sat in my hospital bed with that Polaroid on my lap as Jeremy was in surgery waiting to hear if he had made it through the surgery. It is amazing what comfort one Polaroid can bring but in a time of grief, professional pictures must mean so much more.

This week Newsweek had an article about an organization called "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep." Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep is a national group of photographers who volunteer their time and services to families who are facing poor perinatal prognosis. The photographers are on call and come to the hospital to capture pictures for families. All of their services, including the photos, are provided at no cost to the families. I am very grateful the nurses at University of Utah called their photographer on call and that my sister and her family will also have more than a Polaroid of TJ.

Although I already knew about NILMDTS I still wept when I read the article last Sunday. In a world where we hear so much of discontent and unkindness, it is amazing to read stories that speak to the depth of compassion that exists in places one might never think to look.