Marmalade Photography

I admit that I am not the praying type, spiritual yes – religious no.  However I’ve been talking to God as of late and trying to make sense of human suffering.  One of my “invisible friends” (as another invisible friend calls her friends on the internet) is very very sick and has been through so much – one person should not be asked to bear so many burdens.

I met Melinda about 10 years ago, we had mutual sorrows at the time.  Myself, Melinda and a couple of other strong women came together to create a group for recovery of post partum hemorrhage and hysterectomy survivors.  Before we found each other we each felt very isolated, alone.  It was through our group that we found meaning, we sorted out the why and what.  We gathered more members – some of which are these amazingly powerful women that I am blessed to know (and in a way grateful for my own not-so-pleasant journey because I would have never brought them into my life otherwise).

As our group grew, our wounds healed, our emotional states began the long road of recovery.  We found solace and comfort in the knowledge that we were muddling through recovery together.  In the early days of our group we each struggled, held up each other, gave each other a shoulder to cry on.  We vented, we cursed, we laughed, we healed.  It’s been awhile since I had anything significant to contribute to this still-growing group of amazing ladies but they will forever hold a special place in my heart.

Since I’ve known her Melinda has been through an amazing journey and unfortunately not all of it is good.  She suffered through and recovered from breast cancer and about 18 months ago was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.  As I write this my young, beautiful, sweet friend – a mother of two beautiful girls, a wife, a daughter, a teacher is very very ill.   She is currently hospitalized and is very sick.  Melinda’s blog outlines her journey HERE. Reading her blog I cannot help but be humbled by her struggles, I still am in recovery mode for the events that brought us together and she has had so many earth shattering things happen in the course of those years, a weaker person would not be able to get out of bed daily let alone care for two young children and everything else in her life.

I ask that you lift her up in your thoughts, wishes of peace, light and love must surround her and her family as they try to make sense of all of this.  I’m hoping that I will get an opportunity to meet all of them very soon as our group is trying to get a hold of someone in her family to see if I can get down there to photograph her and her family so that they have images of their mom & wife to cherish forever.  Please hold them in your thoughts.  I hope that I can make the journey down south to visit them very soon.  I simply ask that you keep her and her beautiful family in your thoughts.

xoxo,
Mare

p.s. if you or someone you know is a survivor of post partum hemorrhage & hysterectomy (life saving hysterectomies are performed soon after childbirth for countless women who experience massive life threatening blood loss) please request membership to our NING support group by emailing me at mare.drenthe@gmail.com.