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Last night I gave a presentation about Soulumination in an effort to raise more funds for this cause that is so close to my heart. Since I could not use any visual aids (talk about tying my hands behind my back!) I had to just tell a compelling story. Here is my story. (I only had five minutes so I had to keep it brief!)
About 10 years ago my good friend Chris asked if I could photograph her coworker Teri, who’d just been diagnosed with breast cancer. Even though their youngest child was 13, they had not had any family pictures taken since she’d been born. I met Teri and her family before she started treatment so she was feeling good and we had a great time. They were a neat family who clearly loved eachother and it was fun to capture that. Two weeks after the session I emailed Teri to set up a time to look at the finished pictures. She did not return my emails so I eventually called my friend Chris to make sure that I had the right email address. Teri had not returned my calls because she had passed away just over a week after we’d had our photo session. She had not even had a single treatment. She died from sepsis from the port they’d installed in anticipation of the chemotherapy. THESE WERE THE ONLY FAMILY PICTURES THEY EVER HAD TAKEN. I couldn’t believe it.
I knew that I needed to do more sessions for families like this and I feel so blessed that I found Soulumination when I did. Soulumination, or Soul, matches professional photographers with families who are touched by life threatening illness. They receive this photography free of charge as a positive record of a child’s life and as a legacy for the children of parents lost.
Some times these are the only pictures parents will have of their child. Some times they are the last pictures a parent has with their child. Some times these are the only pictures a family has all together.
We meet families at Children’s Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, hospice, homes, parks. Wherever the family needs us to go we try to make it happen. We work around treatment schedules, therapies, work schedules and visitation schedules.
Once we have taken the photos and processed them we send them off to the office where they make the magic happen. Each family receives a beautiful package that includes gifts such as handcrafted photo albums, framed pictures, jewelry so Mom can keep her child close to hear heart, hand made trifolds for each family member in the room (this can be huge if all of the siblings, grandparents and aunts and uncles are there), laminated wallet photos, 60 prints and of course all of the digital images. (And so much more.)
The average cost to serve a family is about $525 and we served more than 325 families last year.
We know the families treasure the photos and gifts they receive. We have heard, on more than one occaision, of a Soul parent who loses his wallet or has her purse stolen and the first call is to Soulumination to see if her pictures can be replaced. Before a call is even made to the bank to cancel credit cards. I received an email from one of my Soul moms with a picture of her 7 year old son. After his Dad passed away he took his laminated pictures, punched a hole in the corner and wore them on a string around his neck to school so he could share his Dad with his friends and still have him near.
With the passing of Barbara Bush we heard a lot about her incredible life including stories about her daughter, Robin, who died from leukemia when she was just three. She often spoke of a picture she had hanging so it was visible from ‘her chair’ wherever they lived. This is how they kept her alive in their hearts. This work is important.
Last year I got another text from my friend Chris. This time it said ‘Can you do a Soulumination session this weekend at Children’s Hospital? It’s for us. It’s for Jane.’ Jane, her three year old, had just been diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer. Of course I took those pictures. I was so honored. But not everybody has my cell phone. If you choose Soulumination we will be able to say ‘Yes, of course.’ to 20 more families who need our help.
If you would like to donate to Soulumination we would put your money to good use. You can do that here.
A big thank you to Chris for letting me share a couple of her pictures. Jane is currently in remission and doing very well. So many answered prayers!