Hello friends! Here’s a little blurb I shared over on FB about how the power of one picture. Enjoy!
Damion’s mom technically should have died on Livy’s due date. She had been without nutrition for a few days because her body just couldn’t process it anymore, which we were told would cause her to only be able to survive for a very limited amount of time. “Two to three days at the most,” the doctors told us. Every day that crept by past that date was very difficult, but Livy just wasn’t ready to come and Damion’s mom wasn’t ready to let go. So, we decided to induce Livy’s birth in the hope that perhaps after she was born, Damion would have the chance to go to Northern California to say goodbye to his mom, as we knew that she was down to the last days, even hours of her life.
Well, Livy held on! and so did Nana. Five days later, on Thursday January 18th, Olivia was born. Much to the shock of all the doctors, Damion’s mom was STILL holding on and had lived for 7 days without nutrition.
One of the most difficult things to deal with in a situation like this is facing the reality and realization that your parents will never know your children. We knew that Nana would not have a chance to ever know Livy, to see her long eyelashes bat and feel her big hugs, but there was one thing that we could do to ease her pain and ours. We sent her a picture. This one. Livy was just several minutes old. Damion uploaded the picture right away to send to his mom. The family printed it up for her and held it up for her to see. Nana opened her eyes, looked at the photo and said “She’s beautiful” and then closed her eyes again. That was the last time she ever opened her eyes.
I do feel that that simple picture was one of the most powerful in our lives. That single picture brought closure to Nana and allowed her to rest peacefully. That single picture brings healing to me when those times come when I look at Livy and think “Boy, your Nana would have loved to know you” and then I remember, BUT THE PICTURE! She did see Livy before she passed away and that makes all the difference in the world to me! Sometimes I feel bad that I wasn’t able to talk to her in the last days, but I know that at least we gave her a precious gift….a glimpse into the life of her new grand-daughter.
We love it when people share with us how our photos have touched their hearts, filling them with joy or flooding them with memories. But pictures do more than that. In some cases, they are a memorial of a person whom will never be forgotten, a testimonial, a healing agent, a restorative agent, a mystery solved, a clue to your past or heritage, a love passed on. When I think of pictures that are powerful healing agents in my own personal life, I think of the one beautiful picture that my mom has of her mother, who passed away from brain cancer when my mom was a baby–it’s amazing to see how much she looks like my sister, she’s beautiful. Then, there are our dear friends who lost their baby to a stillborn birth and used some of our photos from the baby shower to make a scrapbook in remembrance of the little sweetie. And I will certainly never forget this email that we received from a client and friend after completing their First 48 (Birth) Session, “God moved through you to bless my family and truly help heal the pain of not being able to remember much of the last birth, but being able to really celebrate the beautiful miracle of this one.”
This is why pictures are more than just a digital image on a camera or print on a wall to us. They are about life and people and capturing moments that happen once in a lifetime.
That’s truly the power of one picture.
PS With two photographers at the birth, it was a little confusing! I believe this picture was taken by Erin Palos with Sweet Baby Photo, our fabulous birth photographer. Wouldn’t trade anything for having her there to capture these memories.
Love, Julie and Damion
