Nineteen twenty three.  That was the year my Granny was born.  It was the year that Time Magazine launched their first publication.  The year that women began wearing one piece bathing suits.  The year that King Tut’s burial tomb was discovered and opened.  And the year that the first pitch was thrown in Yankee Stadium.  Things like this happened in my history book, little did I know that my own Granny was  born the year that all of those historic events took place.

Living in South Texas most of her life, the Rio Grande Valley is where my father was born.  Much like many hispanic families, they made their living by working in the fields.  That is what brought my Granny and Grandpa to Ohio where they built a family of 10 kids…yeah ten!!  They raised them in the town I still to this day call home.  Even after they chose to make their way back to Texas, my father decided to stay.

Growing up that made for many trips with us sandwiched in our van to visit his side of our family.  Each time we made the drive, my Dad always gave us the solemn talk that there was a possibility that it may be the last time that we would see Granny.  She was getting older and her health just wasn’t the best.  My sister and I would nod our heads, and make the most of the time we had with her.  It was always great to see her even though she didn’t really know us.  There was a language barrier there.  She spoke little English, and it wasn’t always easy having conversations with her.  As the year’s passed by, she would be re-introduced to us and she would nod her head, hug us, and smile.  Each time it was more noticeable than the last that she clearly didn’t know who we were.  We would chuckle, tell her our name, point to Dad, in the hopes that she would understand.  She would nod and then 5 minutes later give us that look of, who are you?  We understood.

Like many times before she had been in and out of the hospital, leading us to believe she may be in her last days.  So when I had Elijah, it meant more to me than anything in the world for him to meet my Granny.  I knew that she wouldn’t know who he was, or even who I was for that matter.  But none the less, I wasn’t going to let her leave this Earth without meeting him.  That’s when Brad and I decided to take the trip that I had taken many times before.  And it is no short trip by any means.  Twenty seven hours from Dayton to Harlingen {we pit stopped in Houston}, and Elijah was a trooper!

When we visited Granny, my Aunt Lu told her who we were.  She was instantly fixated on Elijah and began to play with his hands on her kitchen table.  He loved it.  For me it was such a tender moment.  One I had always envisioned, but never thought it would come to pass.  Her care taker said she was having a tough day, but with a baby in front of her, she was having a blast!

At 88 years old, she has many {and I mean MANY} grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but couldn’t call a single one of them by name.  When asked if she knew who I was, she blurted out, nooooo.  We laughed, but inside a tiny piece of my heart broke.  I knew she wouldn’t know who I was, but inside I wish she would have.  To know that we had traveled all that way to see her.  To embrace that single moment when she would meet my son, her great-grandbaby.  All the while I watched her play with Eli, soaking in the moment, knowing it could be my last.  Taking my camera out, I had to document her {she was fun that was for sure!}  All of the faces she made were just too precious, and I will always hold these close to my heart.  These are the memories we made…

{Love the wrinkles in her hands.  Those hands picked in the field for a living.  Those hands raised my Dad.  And those hands passed down some awfully good cooking!}

{The last image is my favorite.  I wonder where my Dad got his ‘look.’}

{I guess I was squeezing her a little too tight!}

It was time for her nap, and every part of me wished that time would stand still.  It was time to say goodbye.  As I hugged her, I leaned over and gently kissed her forehead, telling her I loved her.  As I walked out the door it took everything I had not to cry and wondering was this goodbye.  I never really knew her.  I never had a one on one relationship with her.  Regardless, she will always be Granny!

..NINETEEN TWENTY THREE..

love, echo

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echoes of love

Four years ago yesterday, I walked down the aisle and gave my life to my husband Brad.  We spoke the words, For better or for worse. …In sickness and in health.  Those words have risen many a times in our marriage, along with all of the others such as kindness, patience, and love.

Marriage can be easy and it can be tough.  It’s something that you have to be in and working on 100% of the time.  We have our really great days and yes, we even have the bad days too.  But all in all it’s the great days that get you through the bad ones.

This last year we went through a lot together.  We had quite a few leaps and bounds in all sorts of different directions.  The two biggest being that we purchased our first home, AND had Elijah within ONE WEEK of each other!  It was crazy stressful and overly emotional.  Mainly on my end.  I’m sure you can imagine why.  {Yea…we were crazy!}

We learned that juggling our new little man was a lot harder than expected.  That 100% just wouldn’t do anymore.  It had to be 110% and more in order to make things work.  More kindness.  More patience.  More love.  And wayyy more communication.  More importantly, we realized that although our marriage was going to take a turn in a different direction, {now that another person was involved} we were committed and knew that we had turned our marriage into a family.  After all it’s what we had always wanted.

So this week, our little babes came down with a viral infection.  He had a low grade fever, rash, and all around just hasn’t felt well the past couple of days.  Brad and I had plans to take him on our date yesterday to celebrate as a family, but as you can imagine, it’s no fun taking a sick baby anywhere.  So we threw up our white flag and chose that a night in, even on our anniversary, was much better than a bad night out.  Even though I could taste the PF Chang lettuce wraps so vividly, we knew that our baby boy needed nothing other than the love and attention from mommy and daddy that he deserved.

Sometimes life doesn’t go as planned.  And as my sister put it, it won’t be the first time that plans change because of him {or the others that will eventually come}.  Here is to another year of marriage…the good and the bad, because after all it makes it that much better!

Last weekend, {thankfully before Eli started feeling yucky} we were able to get a few family pictures done for my website!  I am so thankful to my friend Mary Wyar of ..Mary Wyar Photography.. to take the time to get this new image of us as a family.  Please leave her some love!

..MARRIAGE AND FAMILY..

love, echo

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echoes of love

I finally have mustered up the courage to sit down and write this blog post.  And in the process I’ve done everything in my power to not use up the entire box of tissues while doing it.  So if you have any near by, you might want to grab them.  All of them.

Over a year ago, I was lying in bed while my brain was still moving at 90 miles a minute, as it often does.  I had this ache in my heart that I needed to give back and do something good with my photographic talent.  Not just photographing someone, but to photograph someone to do good for someone in need.  Wow, a seed had been planted in my heart.  Just like that.  No forewarning.  No idea how to do it.  No recollection of where to even begin.  I finally put myself to sleep, only to find myself in the morning with my thoughts right where they left off.  Getting myself out of bed and tinkering around in the kitchen I made myself a piping hot chai latte, I scribbled my thoughts down on a post it note.  I needed time to think about it and how to bring my idea to life.

Fast forward to December last year, I received the news that a client, avid blog reader, and someone I consider a dear friend of mine had suddenly passed away.  Her name was Erica, and if you have followed my blog at all you may remember my ..Erica’s Legacy.. post.  It included many portraits from all of the sessions that I did with her, her husband Mark, and their brand new darling daughter Peyton.

In attending Erica’s showing, I hugged Mark.  As we pulled away he looked at me with the deepest gratitude saying I will always hold the pictures you took for us close to my heart.  You captured our life together and it means the world to me.  I could barely talk as I nodded my head and mumbled your welcome while trying to choke back the flood of tears that fell down my cheeks.  That moment reminded me exactly why I do what I do.  Days later, still in shock I remembered that seed in my heart.  The one where I wanted to use my artistic skills for the betterment of another.  Boom.  It was right in front of my face.  I knew I had to bring this to life.  I knew I had to Bring Love To Life.  It was time.

So before I reveal just how you can help me Bring Love To Life I would like you to read Mark’s side of the story:

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I met Erica on July 3rd, 2008.  She made such an impact on me the first few weeks that I knew her that when she moved to Atlanta I kept a journal for her that I wrote in often.  Here is an excerpt of the first entry I made on July 22nd, 2008:

Erica,

    How awesome has it been?  For me these last few weeks are indescribable!  …I know, in my heart that one day I will marry you.  The feeling that resides in me for you is beyond description. …I will honor you, respect you, care for you, protect you, trust you and carry a passion for you always.  You deserve more than I can give, but I will give you all that I can.  I wish I could be there to say it, but someday I will be.

Yours, Mark

We married on September 19, 2009 and welcomed Peyton Trinity into our lives on May 24, 2011.

On the morning of December 12th, 2011 at about 1 am Erica woke up and told me that she might pass out and please don’t worry if she did. From what I understood at the time, Erica would pass out and then regain consciousness immediately following.  I am not going to go into too much detail here, because it is devastatingly difficult for me to write and I don’t need to put everyone through what I had to go through that morning.  After the EMT’s arrived and by the time she reached the hospital I believe she had already gone to see Jesus.

She had a heart condition called Prolong QT syndrome, I wouldn’t be able to describe it if I could, so I encourage you to look it up.  Erica’s only heart condition to me was that it was too perfect, and apparently it was too perfect for this world.  God wanted her by his side, dancing with him.  Although this is so difficult for me, I know that God is good and he loves her now more than I ever could.  She will never leave my heart, and her legacy lives on through Peyton.

Erica loved everyone she knew unconditionally and without reservation.  Erica would make these photo collages for me and in the very first one she made for us on the first page she quoted “I love you more than life.”  And on the last page was “Hoping we will never have to say goodbye again.”  Those quotes were not just for me, she loved everyone like that.

I will miss all the laughs and photo shoots we did together.  I will miss laughing so hard with her at all the funny and beautiful things Peyton is doing as she grows up.  I miss her smile in the morning, her touch, her love and the way she loved being a mother so much.  The way she loved Peyton is also beyond description.  She always wanted to be a mother and I’m so glad she had the chance to be one.  She leaves behind our beautiful baby girl, Peyton Trinity and I hope I can raise her to be just like Erica.

I hope you will help me to love people like she did and honor her with our spirit like she did her whole life.  Never waste a moment, don’t take your loved ones for granted, love like it’s your last day, honor God in all that you do, keep your families close, heal wounds between each other, love unconditionally, help those in need and listen to God’s voice.  One day I will be with her again and I can’t wait to see her.

Because of Erica’s passing and the possibility of it being hereditary, we took Peyton in for testing.  She tested positive for prolong QT, the same thing that took Erica from me. We did blood work to see which type it is and how dangerous it might be. Please continue to pray for God to work a miracle in her blood and that by His grace, they will find nothing.

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Are you still with me?  If so, I am putting up my photographic services up for auction.  The money from the auction will benefit Mark and Peyton in helping with unpaid funeral and medical costs, due to Erica not qualifying for life or health insurance.  Here are the details:

*AUCTION BEGINS APRIL 10th at 12:00 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. on APRIL 13th!
*The last person to bid on the event wall on April 13th at 5:01 p.m. will be the victor of my services 🙂
*Bid on a 1 hour Portrait Session including a CD of images with copyright permission for printing. (Excludes Engagement Photography.)
*Bidding will begin at $150. (Which is at a discounted price of the normal session fee.)

If you would like to bid on my services please head to my ..facebook event.. Or if you are a photographer and would be willing to put forth your artistic ability to help us in benefiting Mark and Peyton, please contact me so that I can answer any questions you may have.  If you feel so inclined to just monetarily bless this family without asking for anything in return, thank you in advance for being so gracious!  You can also contact me, and I would be happy to help you in blessing them.

Because this has been on my heart, I would love to make this an annual event here at Echo by Design.  So keep a look out, I would love to take applications for the next Bring Love To Life canidate after the new year.

..BRING LOVE TO LIFE..

love, echo

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echoes of love