Dearest friends, family, and clients,
About a month and a half ago I had the honor of meeting a very special little boy named Dallas. My wife and his mother were very close. Dallas had been awaiting the arrival of his little sister Leila Grace and came to stay with us while his mother was in the hospital.
What puts this little boy in my mind today is what follows:
Leila Grace had been diagnosed before birth with Anancephaly, a rare neural tube defect that is terminal. Very shortly after her birth, she passed away. I photographed the arrival and my wife was there supporting Emilee. My wife and I learned yesterday that after a month of struggling with the loss, the grief, the mother, Emilee Granatowski, took her own life yesterday morning.
We are heartbroken, to say the least, and our thoughts are constantly with this brave little boy who handled the passing of his sister with so much strength and must now endure the loss of his mother.
My wife has decided to get together a special care package for Dallas, who recently turned 6. If you are able to donate any new toys (he loves Legos, cars, building sets, etc.) art supplies, memberships to local kid friendly venues such as the Portland Zoo, Children's Museum, etc, or anything else you can think to offer to give him some wonderful experiences and things to look forward to, please let me know. There are many ways to help.
You can contact me through this post by leaving a comment below or directly by email at info@vanishedtwin.com.
Thank you.
Jayesunn -- Tomorrow we are hosting a memorial service for Emilee at Westside UMC in Beaverton (www.westsideumc.org) at 1 pm (Sat, 1/5). At this I thought I would mention this wonderful mission of yours. I am so thankful for your heart to bless this brave little guy.
ReplyDeleteMay God surround Dallas with a hope that penetrates through the unbelievable loss he has to carry in his young life.
I'd love to help too. Don't know what at this point but will come to decision.
Brian
Thanks you very much Brian,
ReplyDeleteMy wife Ashlee is the one who deserves the credit for this though. She is the one that suggested it and started the process.
She and I will be at the service today.
I came across your blog looking for info on the formal service for Emilee. I was so glad to see your words not focused on Emilee's last decision, but on Dallas. We have known Emilee and Dallas for two years now. With Emilee working FT, Dallas was in our care some 50 hours a week. We know him very well. We've watched him grow. Dallas stayed with us for awhile as well when Emilee was mourning the loss of her daughter. We've hugged him close, wiped his years and tried to help him understand why is sister didn't come home. And now, he needs this same support and so, so much more. Someone asked me yesterday if I was mad at her for what she did. I have to say, no. Only a mother who has lost a child can understand that pain and how it consumes you. I have to believe that if Emilee didn't believe Dallas would be well taken care of, she would not have left him. So with this belief, my husband and I will not get trapped up in anger. We are moving forward with doing whatever we can to make sure Dallas has the life he deserves. The life that Emilee would want for him, filled with hope, opportunity, love and the memory of his mother. I'm happy to see other people focused on Dallas, doing something that's just for him. Our daycare families are helping us put together a care package for Dallas along with letters from his friends here and at school. We want to make sure Dallas knows he is loved by so many people. We haven't seen Dallas in 2 weeks now. We hope to see him soon. If you would like to touch base on anything regarding our efforts for Dallas or anything else, please feel free to email - celyrix@comcast.net Thanks, Candice & Jeremy Mann
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