Wave Of Light~2013 Edition

"There is no footprint too small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world."- Unknown

Yes, it is still Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month!

BUT,

October 15th was Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day, which culminated with the Wave of Light Ceremony at 7 PM (in respective time zones) worldwide. This is our second year to participate in this ceremony, and it felt a little different. We lit our candle with a little less sadness, but the same amount (if not more) LOVE.

Maybe it is because we are not so numb anymore.

Numb is a good thing and numb is a bad thing. Sometimes you also wish you were more numb. Sometimes the world can be a harsh place for those that have lost something they love.

But not on this night. Not on October 15th.

The world showed up for this special day. We felt the arms of so many people near and far around us, and I firmly believe that those arms helped take the sadness that can surround this day....just a little bit better. The strength of everyone combined made it easier to light our candle, cry a little less, and love a whole lot more.

For THAT we say THANK YOU. A thousand times.

I am going to share the pictures of the photos we received! These candles are so beautiful and special!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And our candle....Same one as last year :) Three flames for our family of three on a beautiful night.

(I have no idea why so many of these candles are so distorted and funny looking! Sorry about that!)

Thank You to EVERYONE who participated in the Wave of Light by either lighting a candle, spreading the word, or just simply supporting those who lit a candle!

Thank You to those who are advocating for this month actively and to those that have taken time to share the word about this special month.

Thank You for helping us create awareness! That is a beautiful thing. This is subject that many do not talk about, and it does not get much air time up against many other causes and issues.

Thank You for giving someone you know who has been touched by those terrible loss an extra hug, phone call, text, e-mail or even a meaningful, "How are YOU doing right now?" conversation.

Thank You, above all, for your LOVE. Where would everyone be without that? No where. That's where.

We are confident all those babies can see these candles from Heaven and that they are smiling down on their Mommies and Daddies that day and everyday. They know they are loved, but for one solid day, the whole world got to show each of them exactly how much they are loved.

One day, we will see them again. We will hold them. We will rock them. We will sing. We will dance. We will play. We will color. We will run, jump, skip, swing, and laugh until our sides hurt. We will finally get to have the moments with them we so long for, and the best part about it is that it is for eternity. No one is leaving too early.

One Day.

Today, we have LOVE. Tomorrow we have LOVE. For the rest of our lives on Earth we have LOVE for these babies gone too soon. It is a unbreakable, unwavering, rock solid, life changing, straight-up LOVE.

We love YOU Jackson Neil DeLoach, and so does the rest of the world. We love you forever and always. You are so beautiful, and the great love of our lives. We will see you again, sweet boy. -Love Mom and Dad

Thank You EVERYONE! See you next October for Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month and Day! You all are AMAZING!

Love,
Emily and Russ

Lets Do This, October!

"Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world."- Desmond Tutu

It is October again, readers! (click link to refresh history behind this month!)

That means it is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and October 15th being Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day.

This is our second year.

This is our second of many, many, many years.

What is different?

Not a whole lot.

There is one small thing that we are choosing to do this year, on October 15.

Be a little happier. Smile a little more. Hold on to the HOPE that we have.

We will step out (and up) for Jackson this month, and we will light a candle with a little less sadness and much more love.

I will also light a candle for so many other beautiful angels that left the far too soon.

For Jackson. For Grace. For Rip. For June. For Aiden. For Hayes. For the countless miscarriages that I know of.


See all those names?

They were real. They lived. They were loved.

They are still loved. Every. Single. Day.

This October 15th feels just a little different. Just a little. For reasons we will never, ever understand, we are the faces of this awful reality and because of that fact, we are committed to being ambassadors for love and acceptance for all that are touched by this loss. We are working on healing ourselves (this will take our whole life), but along the way, we want to help as many people as we possibly can. This is a loss that many do not speak about openly, and it is easy to understand why. It is also an issue that has a recognition month, yet it does not get much air time. This is us trying to change that. Here comes the publicity and air time world. One step. One month. One year at a time.

So, if you are reading this, I am asking YOU to light a candle at 7 PM (in your respective time zone) and keep it burning for 1 hour. This ceremony is called the International Wave of Light. It is small gesture to show all the babies how much they are loved and missed by everyone. It is silent but powerful ceremony. I am 100% sure that all of those babies can see this beautiful Wave of Light from Heaven. We must always remember that LOVE is a universal language. I, for one, believe in love and the power of it. Please join me and the rest of the world on October 15th at 7PM.

If you can, snap a photo of your candle! I would love to put together another video! Last year's, "Digital Tidal Wave" was absolutely amazing. We were BLOWN AWAY by the hundreds of photos we received. It was humbling. It also made us and so many others stronger.

Lets do it again.

You can e-mail me your photo at emily.deloach@hotmail.com.

And you know what, you can totally light one privately and call it a day!

Our candle from last year in a small corner of home (in our bedroom) that is dedicated to our little angel. Gosh almighty, those feet! Perfection.

Lets overwhelm the world with small bits of good.

For the first time in nearly a year and a half, I am ready.

That's a new feeling. Ready for some good. Ready for October and October 15th.

Love,
Russ and Emily

Part Four: Venice!

"The world is grand, awfully big and astonishingly beautiful, frequently thrilling."- Dorothy Kilgallen

So, let me tell you something.

Listen up.

I love Venice.

We spent the shortest amount of time in Venice for a number of different reasons. The primary reasons were that we needed more time in the larger cities before it and every single person/travel literature/review said that you do not need too much time in Venice to see it and enjoy it. After conquering Venice, we realized quickly how dead on all of that advice actually was.

We were there 2 nights, and we had just under 2 days to explore and soak it up.

LOVED IT.

Venice just kinda "spoke" to me. I loved the old brick with beat-up-perfectly-distressed shutters. I loved the iron gates that led into little courtyards. I love the mismatched colors from one building to another. I love the bridges. I love the way of life in Venice. I loved the cathedrals. I love all of the above, and them some.

Venice provided us many, many laughs. We were nearly traveling delirious by this point, so that just made things interesting. Venice requires some focus and attention that had left the building by Day 12 of the trip, and with that being said, I will share with you the reaction that Russ threw down to it all in a bit :)

Onto the photos....

Note: all the photos below were taken on our first evening in Venice. It was a blissful walk....then things went downhill. Story to follow photo parade!

 This photo below will get doctored up and framed. I love it. Window boxes make me so very happy.

 

 

 

 

 See Russ' fast walking feet? He is over it. Maybe because we are legitimately lost? Perhaps. I am in such a wonderful place at the moment.

 And yeah. There is frustration. Right ahead.

"Oh, look honey! Window boxes with cute shutters!" (insert Russ, not even turning around). This is 1.5 hours into the "stroll around town".

 "Another door!"-Emily
"That is the 100th door we have seen tonight."-Russ

This is the photo.

So, Russ has this thing where he cannot stand to be lost. He practically explodes (it is cute, and I know when it is coming) when he is lost or feels like he will be lost. The photo below is mid-eruption. Pursed lips. Scowling at a very very bad map of Venice. Angry finger on map. Dehydrated. Hungry. Day 12.

I am happy as a clam at this point. I am in no rush. Yes, it is getting dark and we have no real clue where we are because Venice is laid out kinda funny and since you cannot fix your eyes on any point ahead of you to keep your bearings....it can make you feel like you are in a maze. I do well with being lost and I just let him vent. It was fabulous. Here is what he posted on facebook that evening:

"Famous last words from my lovely wife: "hey Russ, everyone says you should just let yourself get lost in Venice" Well 16 churches, 23 bridges, 31 gondolas, 43 back alleys, a cat getting a little ooolala, one semi-tantrum, and damning Venice to eternity later, we finally arrived at our destination. Maybe it would not have been so bad if I was not on day 12 of our trip, hungry, dehydrated, etc. A liter of water, .5L of beer, and vino made it much better. Ah the wonders of traveling. Can't wait to see what day 13 has in store."

Awesome, huh? It was one of the funniest moments of the trip. God love that man. 

 

 

 And we found our dinner destination. THANK GOD.

 The map made us drink. Who am I kidding. We would have had lots of vino regardless!

 Russ being sassy back to me about our adventure....

 He got a four finger response back about cleaning up his attitude....clearly his is not taking me seriously.

 All smiles after wine and full tummies!

 Since we walked the whole city, we found our way back home in no time :)

 Ok, so onto our first and only full day in Venice!

 

 

 The city is just beginning to "wake up". I just find it so fascinating how life is in Venice. Everything is done via boat. No cars in the city at all! Boats of all sizes come in and drop off deliveries for the day. They shout to one another, they even sing, they are always smiling, all the while moving at a fast pace. It is remarkable and so very cool.

 There is the produce stand! Full of fresh fruits and veggies!

 And a good view of The Grand Canal!

 

 Russ is studying his brand new map! (Lifesaver) When you go to Venice, pay a few Euro's for a good map! It is key. The free ones are about as good as blank piece of paper. The ones you pay for give you the names of every last street and corner...and for that reason....it is worth it!

 

Above, St. Mark's Square! AMAZING!

So, the pigeons.

This square is chalk full of them. These birds are not stupid. They know the eating is good there, and people want to feed them and take their picture with them. They are well-fed and happy, even though the are the equivalent of a nasty flying rat. They are gross, yes, but we had to take advantage of this super-touristy element of Venice. We cheated the system, and bought a large bag of potato chips to feed them. It was like fly paper. We got attacked by birds! I think the birds knew that we had the good stuff, and they came to us over those with bread.  Sorry about that, folks!

 

 Jack Hannah was BFF with the darn birds, naturally. 
 

 I just love the kid behind him trying to make the same motions as Russ thinking that alone would attract birds. We shared our chips with him so the birds would show him some love. From there on out, he was in heaven and could not stop giggling.

 Getting mauled by birds...

 "Come to me my bird friends!"-Russ

This about summarizes my experience! Laughter with a side of uncomfortable-ness. I also wanted to take pictures of me with the birds in the square because we have a photo of my mother doing the exact same thing when she was a little girl! I will put both together one day for sure because I love stuff like that :)

St. Mark's was under restoration on the outside, so it did make the photos of it less pretty :( But it was still wonderful, amazing and gorgeous! We loved the inside of the cathedral! It was magnificent! Very different that many of the other cathedrals we had seen before it, and that made it unique and a stand out!

 

 More of sightseeing time! We went all around town and walked our little legs off!

 Picnic by the water :) St. Mark's in the background and Doge's Palance to the right!

 More QT with the map....

 

On top of the Rialto Bridge! We also did some shopping while there, and I bought some amazing Venetian Linens that I love. I will have them forever, and they will always remind me of our perfect trip to Italy. I got one large traditional tablecloth and 2 table runners (they are both neutral two-tone)!

 

 St.Mark's...out of order!

 

 It was hot. We were tired. So we sat by the water and "re-hydrated". And Russ proclaimed, "Day drinking is under rated!". I agree!

 Sunburned and hot!

 And Russ showing some love to Venice and the Map Debacle of 2k13.

 And we saved a special gondola ride for our very last evening in Italy :)

 

 

 

Going through a tiny and very low bridge! How those guys maneuver those long boats is absolutely incredible! He was laying down in the boat while we coasted through!

 And one of my favorite pictures from the trip of us :)

 Dinner! Cute and busy little restaurant that was delicious!

 

 Ended where I started! The trip began with mussels and ended with them too!

 

 And then, before we knew it....Day 14 came. Time to fly back home :( Our hotel in Venice was perfect! It was more like a little B&B than a hotel. It was small, quiet, in a great location (once we knew where we were!) and the staff were super helpful and always willing to make sure you had a great stay in Venice! And we so did.

 

We chose to blow our last Euro's on a water taxi to the airport! We had an earlier flight, and this was a fast and effective way to get to the airport....so we took advantage. It was super fun and we got to cruise around Venice in a speedboat for about 45 minutes!

 Goodbye Venice!

Back home we go :(

It is safe to say that I loved Venice more than Russ did. It was not his favorite city of the trip! I am so glad we did Venice, and it can be checked off our Italy Bucket List!