Update on Operation "Granting Hope"

I am so behind on this blogging stuff! The last couple of weeks have been a combination of just generally being very busy, and me being in a funk that I couldn't get out of. I may talk about the latter at some point in time, but not now. Tonight I want to focus on my visit to the hospital a few weeks ago.

The morning I was supposed to deliver the Granting Hope Ministries baskets I got "cold feet". Translation- I didn't want to go alone. Every part of this journey has been an emotional rollercoaster, and I really felt that I needed the support, just in case I should fall apart. Many of you read my blog - most on Facebook - so you have read the story of Carla and Joe Terian. They also appeared in the Arizona Living section of the AZ Republic Sunday newspaper on Labor Day weekend. (Very touching article- read it online if you missed it) Carla and Joe lost their baby boy, who they named Jody!, to PKD aka Polycystic Kidney Disease. Basically, they went through the same thing as Kris and me. By this I mean they were aware ahead of time that his condition was fatal, and so on. Baby Jody was born alive, which was a miracle in itself. He lived one beautiful hour.

So, I called Carla to come and help me take the baskets to the hospital. If there was going to be any falling apart, I figured we may as well do it together. We met up at Banner Desert Medical Center and loaded the baskets onto a cart. As we waited for the nurse in charge of bereavement services, we chatted a little bit about our journeys. (this was the first time we had ever met in person!) Soon our nurse came and ushered us into her office. She took one look at the baskets and said "These are beautiful! What a wonderful way to honor your son!" And then I promptly lost it. As I began apologizing up and down the nurse began to scold me, saying that one year past the loss was nothing really, and that she would think something was wrong with me if I hadn't been emotional. After that I felt at ease and was actually able to think more clearly- and with any luck appear more "dignified." Carla and I were in her office for a long time- I'm guessing a half hour to 45 minutes. Nurse Suzanne and soon after, Nurse Karen, looked over our baskets and told us how much they appreciated them. They assured us that every bereaved mother would hear Grant's story and about our organization. I stood there just feeling so proud of my son and the many lives he has touched and the many more that he will continue to touch. Oh how I wish he could see all the people he is helping!
Out of the eight baskets that we took in, four have sadly already been used. Another one was given to a group of nurses from Yuma, AZ, who had come in for training. They are supposed to be contacting us soon. Nurse Suzanne and Karen are keeping one for an upcoming administration meeting. This leaves only two baskets left! We need to do more, so much more! This is only one hospital- we have several in our area. To date, we have received $125 in donations. To those who gave, we want to say a huge, THANK YOU! Kris and I have been working on breaking down the cost of the baskets, and so far we have come to find out that each basket costs approximately $22-$25 apiece.
Each basket has paper shred filler in it. Included in the basket is a Granting Hope Ministries Resource Booklet, shower gel and lotion, jolly ranchers, lip balm, a plush lamb, one handmade memory album, and one handmade memory box. Supplies that we have used include chipboard, stickers, ribbon, embellishments, buttons, paper, printer ink, assorted glue, hole punch, scissors, and more. At this time we need a much bigger hole punch, one that is able to punch through the chipboard and resource booklet paper without hurting our hands. So this is just a general idea of what goes into making up these baskets. In addition to this, we are providing hand sewn satin gowns that the families can bury their child in. Our friend Leah is handling this, so at this time I am not sure of the cost involved with that. At this point in time she has about ten gowns ready to go.

If the Lord should lay it on your heart, please give whatever you can to help us get these items to these families. Those of you who live in our area, we can use you to help us make and decorate the albums and memory boxes, as well as sew gowns. No donation is too small- just giving $5.00 buys us one basket and one bag of filler. $1.00 will buy a spool of ribbon. We can use anything! If you prefer to purchase items yourself, please contact me and I can tell you the specifics of what we need.

October 15th is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. This would be a wonderful time to give, in memory of our son, or another special baby that you would like to remember. Christmas is another beautiful time to give. At this time, we are not set up as a not for profit, so you will not be able to deduct from your taxes. We do hope and pray that we are able to do so in the future.

As always, thank you for taking time to read this. Thank you for your prayers, your support, your love, and your giving. We may never know just how many people we have touched until we get to Heaven.