The idea, when I started thinking about doing Blog Fest 2009, was simply to run back to back guest posts on a wide variety of subjects.  Some of my guests have been more well known than others, but that doesn’t change the importance of their message!  

I’ve known Aurora Onorato for a year, meeting at Photo Plus Expo when she was working in the NILMDTS (Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep) booth.  At that time she’d only been in business for a little over 2 years.   Right out of the blocks she was giving back and  I really liked meeting a relatively new photographer involved in a charity, which my friend,  Sandy Puc, helped to found.

It takes a special kind of person to be involved with NILMDTS, but as Aurora talks about at the end of the following post, how could you NOT be there to support this kind of need from a parent in pain.  

I’ve talked a lot about the importance of being involved in your community.  Scott Bourne, in his guest post last week, talked about your Artist’s Statement being from the heart.  Jay Conrad Levinson, the father of Guerilla Marketing, talks about building your business in the community by giving back.

The bottom line is, Aurora walks the talk.  She’s made a solid effort to be involved in a charity that is perfectly aligned with her heart and her skill set.  She’s using photography to help make the world a little better place – so thank you Sandy Puc for helping to start NILMDTS, thank you Aurora Onorato for doing an incredibly poignant post and thank you to the 8,000 photographers in 25 countries who are now volunteers in Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.  

The quote on the NILMDTS home page says it all…

“You make a living by what you get.  You make a life by what you give! ”  Winston Churchill

I began my journey with Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep at the very same time I began my business, in October of 2006, but it wasn’t until July of 2007 that I got my first call to duty.  I received an e-mail that made me stop in my tracks:

“Dear Aurora,

My name is Weihua, I am currently 34-weeks pregnant with a baby girl, whose name is Teodora. This is our first child after our 15 years of marriage, but unfortunately we found out in earlier March that our daughter has a genetic disorder called full Trisomy 18.  I joined a wonderful online supporting group organized by the Trisomy 18 foundation, through which I knew about the NILMDTS, and saw many pictures those angel photographers took. I also found your name and your website. With much gratitude, I wonder if I can have your professional help to capture some important moments of Teodora and us together when she comes…”

I wrote her back immediately and told her I would be honored to share in her daughter’s brief life, and invited them to come to my home for a maternity session, as the greater part of their journey with Teodora was Weihua’s pregnancy.  They took me up on my offer, and were so sweet and appreciative. Even in our first meeting I was amazed at their strength.

Some three weeks later, Dora decided to enter this world; she cried when she was born, and her parents got to hear their baby girl’s tiny voice. They got to give her a bath and dress her and hold her…parent her.

I arrived about 45 minutes after her birth and photographed the many friends who came to help them celebrate the life of their little Dora. Little more than two hours after she entered this world, the doctors came in to check on Dora. They let her parents know that she had in fact left us…  I watched Dora’s father Youjun, a very stoic and quiet man, comfort his wife. And the very moment he began to lift his hand from her shoulder and take a step back, several of Weihua’s girlfriends swooped in and began to wipe her tears and hold her as finally mom let herself go and sobbed. 

While I continued to photograph, I couldn’t help but be moved at this moment as I silently cried behind my camera. I continued to document the occasion watching Weihua stroke the side of her daughter’s face and as she gently lifted Dora’s eyelids to gaze just once into her daughter’s eyes.  After some time, mom was ready and called me over to take Dora for her formal portraits. While I was photographing Dora, Weihua said, “I know this will sound somewhat strange, but I don’t think ever in my life I have ever felt so much love in a room before.”  And she was right; the amount of love in compassion in that room that day was so incredible I can still feel it. After we finished and I packed up my gear, I asked if I could hold Dora again and say my goodbyes to her. As her mother handed her to me she told her this: “Dora, this is your Aunt Aurora; she’s an angel just like you,” and I told her I was honored to be thought of so.

Youjun helped me out with my things. He insisted on carrying something and waited with me for the valet to deliver my car.   He then gave me the biggest hug in the world before putting me into my car to return home and thanking me several times.

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I attended Dora’s services almost a month after she left us, which were kindly donated by the funeral home. There were easily over 100 people there to support Weihua and Youjun, and Weihua gave quite possibly the most beautiful and gracious eulogy. What a kind and gracious woman - she never ceases to move me when she speaks. They have also created a beautiful memorial page for their daughter.

Weihua, Youjun and I keep in touch, and I am happy to say that this June I was so honored to photograph Dora’s baby brother Daniel.  Words cannot express how wonderful it was for me to get to share in more beautiful family moments with this incredible family.

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Volunteering for the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep organization has given me some of the most moving and incredible moments of my life,  as I get to share in the most intimate moments of these families and help them to remember their beautiful children.  

I often give my time to help continue to recruit more fellow volunteers, and I think one of the most common questions I hear is “How do you do it?”  And I tell people over and over again that, that isn’t the question, but rather “How could I not?” As a mother myself I can’t imagine not doing this for another family; it’s such a small thing for me to do it for them, and it means the world to them.