Brooke Ashley Cameron 7/14/08~7/24/08




"The Butterfly counts not months, but moments, and has time enough."




Brooke Ashley Cameron was born 7~14~2008 with her identical twin sister, Summer, at only 27 weeks. She weighed 2 lbs 15 oz and was 15 inches long. She was the former recipient of Twin to Twin Transfusion syndrome. As a result of TTTS (twin to twin transfusion) and prematuriy, she had acute Pulmonary Stenosis, a grade 4 brain bleed, and an extremely rare lung condition similar to Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia. She passed away, at only 10 days old, peacefully in her Mom's arms, surrounded by a family who loves her.

Brooke's memory book...click on full screen to see a larger copy.


Saturday, March 27, 2010

Gaining some closure...

It has been a long time coming....I am finally finished with a photo book I have been working on for over a year. I started working on it many months ago...first, as a Christmas present for the grandparents, then, it wasn't done, so I decided it could make a great mother's day gift...still not done, how about father's day? When father's day came and went, I decided the twins' birthday or Brooke's anniversary date would be a good time. Needless to say, it still was not done, so I set it aside and thought I could easily pick it up anytime. It all got too overwhelming, and I put it aside...until now. The thought that this was unfinished has been nagging in my mind...

I pulled the project up again on my computer just a few days ago and was not prepared for how it would make me feel. The past month and a half has been very hard for us emotionally. My husband's grandpa passed away last month, his dad was just diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer, and many close friends are experiencing tragedies. This all has made my heart very heavy. I had no idea that completing this project might help with how I have been feeling. The first day I spent skimming through my original blog. I sat at my computer, sobbing. It is amazing the tears have not shorted out my keyboard! I am so grateful to my friend Yvonne, who encouraged me to start writing a blog! Reading through my thoughts and feelings while I was deep in the moments of dispare, heartache, and tragedy, helped remind me how far our lives have come since then. I can, however, still hardly believe we went through what we did....


In January, I also finished Summer and Brooke's quilts. I hand quilted Summer's, and finished the binding on both of them. These were put together for me by my friend, Yvonne (thanks again), as a bed rest project. Just like the book, facing the quilt was very difficult...especially since these were made to match for our daughters. I am so happy this is finished as well...it is no longer staring at me as something un-finished...just as Brooke's life was also "un-finished". I plan to save it for Summer and present it to her as a special memory of her sister. Thing One and Thing Two's quilts...Summer's on the left, Brooke's on the right
Brooke's quilt was machine quilted for me by my friend, Yvonne. After Brooke passed away, I wasn't sure I could hand quilt it myself...it was such a special thing for her to do for me :)

Quilt labels



I am sharing this special book here (at the top of the page) for those who would like to see it....just click on "full screen" to see a larger copy and hit the play button.

Thanks again to all those who have continued to stand by us, pray for us, and just "be" there. You have helped us more than you will ever know.