{The Light of Gabriel}

I’m going to warn you in advance.  What you are about to read is emotional and real and it is the story of Amy’s grief and journey through my eyes written with permission from Amy.  

It was a Monday, the last Monday before school started for my daughter, and we were at Hawaiian Falls for one last hoorah on my day off.  It was unusual because the kids were arguing and no one was happy being there – so we came home early.  I call my daughters friend’s mom and she asks me if my husband has spoken to me… have I heard what has happened???  I knew the news was bad.  Amy, in her final month of pregnancy, had lost her baby.  Gone and without explanation or reason.  My body filled with chills and I sat in the window sill of my dining room feeling like I had been sucker punched and about to get ill.  If this is how I felt, multiply that by the largest number you can fathom times eternity and you have a fraction of the pain Amy felt that day. I spoke with my husband and he said I needed to go to the hospital to photograph the baby.  I volunteer for a non-profit charitable organization Now I lay me Down to Sleep, a group that provides bereavement photography for families experiencing the loss of babies who earned their wings and became angels.  I have done this before, just not for someone I call a friend.

I changed. Dropped the kids off with my friend. Grabbed my camera and went to the hospital.  I photographed Amy and Brad’s Angel Gabriel in a tiny recovery room while the entire room grieved.  If it’s possible, I think even the walls were crying.  My husband went with me to assist.  Not a dry eye in the room. I photographed the baby, the baby and his dad and when Amy said, “I just want to hold my baby” the session ended.  I may have taken all of five minutes worth of photos. It seems like I was there for an eternity.  I went home and edited all of her pictures that night, made a slideshow, packaged it up and delivered it the next day.  I stayed in the room the first time Amy viewed her pictures and wept.  It was a deep raw pain.  With the support of her husband and family she somehow made it through those very dark days.  

In making the arrangements to bury her Angel, Amy recognized a need.  There was nothing available locally to help with the costs of a burial, both the emotional and financial costs of losing a baby.  Did you know if you can’t afford to bury your baby, they cremate the baby and sprinkle the ashes at the butterfly garden at the cemetery?  Amy knew this provided no closure for a grieving family.  Amy has amazingly taken her pain and given it direction in her journey.  She created a foundation to help assist grieving families experiencing loss such as hers with emotional and financial support. The non-profit organization is called The Light of Gabriel Foundation .  Amy has done all the leg work in getting this foundation off the ground and running in a matter of days.  Click on the link, and it will take you to her foundation’s website.  To help raise money for her foundation, The Light of Gabriel Foundation has teamed up with Goodsearch.com. Instructions are below on how to access the site, enter the foundations name and have a percentage of your online purchases help raise money for the cause. Of course you can always donate directly to the foundation at The Light of Gabriel Foundation’s website.  I am very proud of Amy for taking a devastating tragedy and finding inspiration to help others.  You’ll be reading more about her in the days to come.  I see that picture above and I see a Mommy holding her baby, grieving a terrible loss, and staying true to her journey.

• Click HERE to be taken to the GoodSearch/GoodShop website
• Enter The Light of Gabriel Foundation in the charity search and click verify
• Once the Foundation is verified – all searches or purchases you make will benefit our cause