The group became known as Lammy's June Bugs, and for 9 months I grew to know the 150 or so women who posted regularly. We chatted about the changes we were experiencing, first baby kicks, doctor's visits, nursery decorations, etc etc. Then after awhile those of us who posted often got to know one another pretty well and we started discussing other aspects of our lives, like our families, marriages/relationships, fears, joys, and anything random that we felt like discussing. I started to feel like these women were not just random people on the internet, but actual friends.
After we encouraged each other through labor and delivery, we shared in each other's overwhelming joy and excitement with our new little ones. We posted pictures every week of our babies growing and changing, and would post milestones like first smiles, first month, first giggles, and everything in between. We'd also share the events in our lives, like losing jobs, illness, fighting depression, and coping with exhaustion. You see, this little group of mommies spread all over the country became like a little family, full of love, support and inside jokes. We even changed our name to Lammytown and joked about it being a fictional world where we lay on the beach for hours and waiters bring us copious amounts of frosty drinks. And whereas on the main June board women were catty, cruel, and judgemental, in Lammytown we all respected each other's differences and peace reigned.
And so it was... we shared our lives and our children. We rejoiced together when a baby would hit a new milestone, laughed together as we watched a "theme song" made by a Lammytown spouse, and shared frustration together when we had sleepless nights.
And then we cried together when we lost baby Noah.
Noah passed away from a SIDS-related incident on September 18, 2010. He was 4 months old, and we were devastated. I was devastated. I knew this baby from before he was born... from doctor's visits to labor through every month of his life. And I knew his mom. No one could believe it... and we all had a hard time believing our worst fear had come to being in a baby we had all fallen in love with.
Courtney, Noah's mom, stayed with us and posted because she felt like we could understand and give her support like no other boards, even the grief and loss boards. Because we knew Noah. And we were grieving too.
We started a fund together to raise money to buy flowers for the funeral and for something for Courtney to hold on to to remind her of Noah. We raised well over $300 in a couple of days (I don't even know the final figure, but it was enough for some beautiful Orchids for Noah). Each one of us also either released balloons or lit a candle with a prayer for Noah on the day of his funeral, took pictures and video, and sent it to the group creator who made it into a tribute video for Courtney. This was the picture I sent:
And this was the video that was created:
Noah from Emily Halcrow on Vimeo.
One of the moms in the group is a writer for the Chicago Tribune, and she wrote an article for the paper about Lammytown and Noah that is coming out in the Sunday edition tomorrow. Here is a link to the article online:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-talk-slife-mothers-support-1003-20101002,0,5718824.story
So when I talk about Lammytown now, you will all know what the heck I am talking about. It is my mommy group, but it's so much more than that. I hope to some day meet each and every one of these women in person (I'm voting for Disney World!), as they've all touched my life throughout the past year in a way I never could have anticipated. I thank the Lord that He gave me such a wonderful place to post my questions, vent my frustrations, laugh at life, and cry when needed. I am so grateful to be a member of Lammytown.
No comments:
Post a Comment