Helping Hands for Haiti

Reprinted from my friend Emily's blog.
Stepping Stones:a path to healing after the loss of a child

Healing Hands for Haiti

I have been following the news from Haiti but haven't been sure what to do to help. The stories of loss and tragedy are terrible. And then like a light in the darkness, I found out about this project: Healing Hands for Haiti, and in particular, the Utah Hospital Task Force.

A friend of mine from church is friends with the girl, Erin, who walked in to offer her services in 'social network marketing' and then 6 hours later left the offices finding herself appointed as the new press secretary and scheduled to leave on Friday on a plane to Haiti.

They have organized a team to fly down Friday with the anticipation to send future teams as resources allow. The team is comprised of volunteer medical and construction personnel, including previous LDS missionaries to Haiti to act as translators. It is not an LDS (Mormon) organized group although a great number of them are members of the LDS church.

I've been obsessed with following her activity as she gets ready to leave. Her personal blog can be found here

I know many of you have already donated in other ways to Haiti. Thank you. Let me just do my little part and pass along this request from Erin: (I particularly love the fact that the airplane will be filled with orphans on the return trip.)

The Utah Hospital Task Force will deploy Thursday to Haiti to help the victims of the devastating earthquake just a few weeks ago. The team of 150 volunteers of doctors, nurses, translators and other professionals are going to Haiti to help rescue the displaced, homeless, and sick children. Many orphanages were destroyed in the earthquake on January 13, 2010. Another after shock this past week has created an even more desperate situation. Stories of toddlers wandering alone in the streets, children found sleeping alone in abandoned and dangerous buildings, and more heartbreaking, horrible tales continue to come out of Haiti daily. The Utah Hospital Task Force, along with Healing Hands for Haiti (an existing charitable organization) will be working to quickly provide medical care for the children, rebuild their orphanages, and when possible, bring them safely to the United States.

The Utah Hospital Task Force airplane will deliver the volunteers to Haiti on Thursday night, and will quickly be filled with orphans who will fly to Utah to meet their waiting adoptive families. Please help us bring more children back to safety and to loving homes with your donation today.

The Utah Hospital Task Force volunteers will be living within the Healing Hands for Haiti medical compound in tents during their stay. (The medical compound buildings were destroyed in the earthquake.) The volunteers will also be living with and helping serve the children from two nearby destroyed orphanages. Living conditions will be primitive and resources scarce, but the volunteers are happy to serve. But donations are desperately needed to help keep the operations safe and effective.

Please visit http://HealingHandsforHaiti.org and click on the donate PayPal button. To ensure that your donation is used for this mission, please click “special instructions to seller” on PayPal and write “Utah Hospital Task Force” in the box.

To follow the experiences of the task force in Haiti please visit http://utahhospitaltaskforce.org. You can also follow them on Twitter at http://twitter.com/uhtf and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/UtahHospitalTaskForce.

Thank you for your support and donations!

Happy Heavenly Birthday

Mommy, Please don't cry...
We have lots of parties here.
With Streamers and hats,
And the best chocolate cake ever!

What a great day yesterday. Normally we celebrate Ryan's birthday with just Doug, the kids and myself but we decide to open it up since it would have been a milestone birthday.Doug and I decided back on what would have been his first birthday to make that day a happy day. We celebrate the time we had with him. There are plenty of other days in the year to be sad and think about his passing. We decided to do a balloon release on his birthday this year when we usually do that in April. In the throws of grief it is hard to appreciate what you had and not dwell on what is lost. As time goes by the heartache gets replaced with joy just a little at a time. I am not saying the heartache will ever disappear but it lessens with allowing the love we felt and still feel to overtake our hearts. Like the quote from Mommy Please Don't Cry states above I bet that Ryan and his buddies Parker and Gabriel are having a great party. I have a feeling Grandpa Bill and Opa are letting them get away with way too much fun. May your hearts always be filled with the love you share or have shared and not the grief you have experienced.
((hugs)),
Raye

Christmas Hugs From Heaven

As much as I LOVE this time of year it is still hard. As I watch the boys open their presents I can't help but long to watch the one that is not here open his presents. But I think about the time I did have him and cherish those memories. I found this poem and wanted to share it for all those who have loved ones that are not here for Christmas.

Christmas Hugs & Kisses

Please don't be sad now that we are apart,
celebrate Christmas with me in your heart.
Our best Christmas ever is still yet to come,
for Heaven is where the first Christmas is from.
And so I look forward to when you'll be free
to spend your first Christmas in Heaven with me.
I'm waiting with angels, and until that day,
I'll keep sending my hugs and kisses your way.

Love & Marriage

Marriage (noun) - the social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, etc.

What is a marriage? Is it a social or legal contract? Or something much more? To me it was just plain luck. I got lucky. I was not looking for a husband and lo and behold I met Doug. Well to be honest I met him before. But then I did not give him the time of day. He could tell you what I wore that night but I don't remember anything about him. I am sure you have heard the saying that some people get less attractive the more you know them. Well that was just the opposite. Once I really gave Doug a chance he really started to grow on me. Once we got past the whole he is my boss thing we really got to know each other. I was lucky again when he asked me to marry him.

I, Rachel, take you, Douglas, for my lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part.

I will be honest I am not sure if those were our exact vows but I bet it is close. Little did we know how those vows would be tested. We have survived a crazy ex wife, issues with the step kids and then the death of our son. As bad as things got we kept each other close. When Ryan died we got spouted all these statistics about marriages not surviving the death of a child and things like that. I can see how that can rock a marriage. But I went into this marriage believing it was not disposable and I will be damned if that was going to take it away. Do we have the best marriage? No. But I think we have a very good one. He was taught to treat a lady well and that shows. He is not disrespectful or mean or anything like that. He is mine and I am elated. Like I said earlier. I got lucky.

Prematurity Awareness Day

Why I Walk

So others won't know the pain we've known
This is why we walk
So every child has a chance
This is why we walk
For Tanner, Parker and Myles
This is why we walk
For Ryan & Jake
This is why I walk


The US is failing it's youngest most fragile population. Prematurity can happen to any woman. It is not just a socioeconomic issue. It is a global issue with the US not doing so hot in the statistics. It is said it takes a village to raise a child.It appears we are not doing well in that respect. People think well it is not my child so why should I care? Well let me tell you. If you live in Tarrant County you help pay for those born too soon. Having been a volunteer in the NICU at Cook's I saw those babies in that unit that were transferred from JPS. Even if you look at it from an economic perspective an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You would also be surprised by the ones prematurity does strike. I had great prenatal care and still had two babies early. Even though I did everything "right" they still came in this world before their time. What was really hard to watch was after Ryan was born I watched someone smoke and drink during their pregnancy and their son by all accounts seems fine. That is why the mission of the March of Dimes is so important. They work tirelessly to get to the bottom of these complex issues. Next time you think not my child think about your neighbors, friends, fellow church members or your coworker. Someone you know has been touched by prematurity. If you are reading this you know me and so you definitely know someone that has been touched by prematurity. Band Together. Help the helpless. And now I will get off my soapbox. Thank you to everyone who supports us and our passion for the March of Dimes. Words will never be able to express our gratitude for every one's support over the last almost five years. Wow. Five Years. That is another post for another day.

((hugs)),
Raye

6 weeks too soon - Ryan

4 weeks too soon - Jake

Wave Of Light to Remember Our Babies

I am actually very excited about today. Even though I am having transmission issues with my truck and I may have injured my rotator cuff it is still a good day. But that is a whole other post. From my point of view the worst thing that could happen is Ryan being forgotten. He was born, he lived, he breathed, he IS a part of our family. I hope days like this help people understand that for the most part people want to talk about their angels. Prenatal and Neonatal loss is nothing less than tragic. Parents shouldn't bury their child. It is just not the natural flow of things. But you pick yourself up by the boot straps and you carry on. I am very lucky that I have the support that I do in my life. I have Doug, my family and my "sisters". I am especially grateful for Teri Lyn. Of my "sisters" she is unfortunately the only one that completely understands how I feel. I say unfortunately because who wants to be a member of this club. Who would have thought all those years ago when we met we would be here. I pray for peace for those dealing with their losses and I ask those that are not to pray for those of us that are dealing with those loses.

I invite everyone to light a candle tonight at 7 pm not matter your time zone. If everyone lights a candle and burns it for at least an hour there will be a continuous WAVE OF LIGHT.

Peace to everyone,
Raye

March for Babies - 2009 Awards Lunch

Oh my. Has it really been over two months since I last posted. What a slacker. I promise to be better. On Monday we attended the Fort Worth March for Babies Luncheon. We weren't in the top 5 but that is ok. We missed it by that much. I am still floored over the amount of support we had this year. Especially in shaky financial times like we are experiencing. Dr. Grubbs was the emcee so that was really cool. You know I love me some Dr. Grubbs. I have learned not to rush up to him if I see him in public. We do see him at least once a year at the Warm Place fundraiser. I let him talk to us which he did. I got my usual big hug from him. He is such a wonderful and gentle man. Cook's is lucky to have him and the parents of the children he cares for are also lucky. Mom & Doug went with us this year so that was fun. We sat next to Amber Augustin and her team. They are the Extreme Makeover family. It was nice to meet her and she seemed nice. All in all it was a great lunch once again. Can't wait for 2010. I will get on with creating the Miracle Munchkins store so everyone can get their Munchkin items. Yeah for us!
Take care,
Raye


Our name badges with program

Me & Teri Lyn

Dr. Grubbs

Mom, Teri Lyn & I