.

I just wanted everyone to know how much my wife, my family, and I appreciate Jimmy. Sadly we met him because he volunteers for an organization called Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. Something I feel he probably doesn’t tell others because his personal modesty won’t let him. Everyone in my family who was there commented on how wonderful the photographer was who came to help us through the most painful moment of our lives. In the most difficult of circumstances he was able to give us images to remember our boys that make me smile because they convey our love for them even at the same time they show our pain from loosing them. His compassion, respect, artistic ability, and warm heart have inspired me to pursue my passion for photography. I only hope that someday I’ll be at a point where I’m able to help another family in the same way Jimmy helped us.

I’ve included a video after the jump that will tell you more about NILMDTS and what they do. You will cry when you watch it, but it is very, very touching and conveys the importance of their work.

Update:

Some other posts about NILMDTS:

• What Constitutes the Ultimate Photograph?- Going Pro 2010
• Marketing Essentials International » Guest Post: Charity, Something to Fill Your Heart With by Aurora Onorato
• Marketing Essentials International » What Really Is The Ultimate Image?
• Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. « Iris Cheung Photography Blog:

Their Funeral

We are going to lay our boys to rest near my family in Virginia.  There will be a grave side service 4:00PM Tuesday January 19th at Hebron Baptist Church in Appomattox, Virginia. GPS navigation systems and mapping websites aren’t very reliable in Appomattox County so be sure and get directions from the church website.

For people wishing to attend from out-of-town our wonderful friends at Rockcliffe Farm Retreat & Lodge near our home have graciously offered any of the rooms they haven’t already rented out to people attending the funeral no charge.

How You Can Help

I honestly don’t know what help we should ask for.  Our family has all been here over the weekend and taking wonderful care of us but after we come home on Wednesday or Thursday we won’t have them here and from what I’ve been told that’s when things will get really hard.  The women in our neighborhood have offered to coordinate meals for anyone interested in making one so we don’t end up with 18 suppers all at once and then none for the upcoming days.  I will give you their contact information if that’s something that interest you.  I can confidently say that Doracy will need to see some friendly faces in the coming weeks and I’m thinking that the people stopping by will be just as important as the food itself.

The hospital gave us a wonderfully done pamphlet “Family and Friends: How You Can Help When a Baby Dies” which I recommend everyone read.  I will support my loved ones slightly differently through any loss they may have in the future because of it.  The most important part being on what not to do.  I have made some of those mistakes in the past because I didn’t know what the right thing to say was.

Some Links

• Hebron Baptist Church, ( Google Maps )
• Rockcliffe Farm Retreat & Lodge
• Family and Friends: How You Can Help When a Baby Dies

With the introduction of a tickless kernel, any extraneous wakeups cause more power to be used, drain batteries, produce more heat, and use more natural resources, threatening the environment of this baby seal.

Do you really want to kill the baby seal?