I first met Lucinda Snyder a few years ago when I was a customer of the beautiful yarn store she owned in the South Wedge of Rochester, Wild Wools. I enjoyed frequenting the tiny shop that housed hundreds of skeins of yarn and one great big dog (Lucinda’s 130-pound Great Pyrenees, Bailey), and was sad when the shop closed down a few years after opening.
Good things were in store for Lucinda, though. She had fallen in love with a wonderful man named Jamey. They eloped in Las Vegas on New Years Eve, and introduced their dogs to each other- great big Bailey and tiny Sabre, Jamey’s lap dog. Soon they had even more to be excited for when they found out that Lucinda was pregnant with a baby boy.
Cooper Austin Snyder Gerenski was born on Thanksgiving Day, 2008- and Lucinda and Jamey were so very thankful for their little boy. The joyous occasion of his birth was tempered with worry though, when it was discovered that Cooper had been born with a hole in his heart that would need to be repaired with surgery. The surgery was scheduled for December 17th- but in the meantime, Lucinda and Jamey could bring their little boy, who they nicknamed “Birdy”, home to nest.
Lucinda, Jamey, Cooper and the dogs quickly settled into a routine. Cooper was introduced to family and friends. He was dressed up in cute onesies, and sweaters and booties hand knitted by Lucinda. For 20 days Cooper was kissed and cuddled and soothed and loved immensely by his family. On December 17th Lucinda and Jamey brought Cooper to Golisano Childrens Hospital for open heart surgery. They were terrified, but hopeful- Cooper was in good hands with the talented and caring doctors and nurses at Golisano.
Sweet Cooper made it through the difficult surgery, and his prognosis was good. Lucinda and Jamey slept that night at the Ronald McDonald house at Golisano, so that they could be close to their little boy. They awoke the next morning not knowing that their lives were about to change forever.
On December 18th, 2008 at 10:20 am, for reasons that to this day no one really knows, Cooper’s heart stopped and he could not be revived. That day Lucinda and Jamey’s hearts broke into a million pieces.
How does one survive the death of a child? How do you keep on living? Lucinda and Jamey were understandably devastated. Lucinda’s blog Luc Ends, which had started as a way to keep family and friends updated on Cooper, now became a vessel into which she poured her grief- and something more.
Lucinda had always been the creative type, and even in the midst of her grief her creativity began to blossom. Cooper’s memorial service was scheduled for May, when the trees and flowers would be in bloom. Lucinda decided that she wanted to make something to contribute to the service. Since Cooper’s nickname had been Birdy, Lucinda decided to knit colorful stuffed birds that could be hung on a tree at his outdoor service. However as Lucinda began to knit, another idea started to take shape. She knew that Golisano Childrens Hospital performed about 270 heart surgeries on children each year- what if every child could get a bird? The birds could be a symbol of hope, a message of comfort to the childrens’ families- a message that someone out there, someone who had been in their very shoes, was thinking of them and wishing them well. Lucinda knew she couldn’t knit all those birdies alone- and so she turned to her readers.
On March 2nd, 2009, Lucinda posted an entry explaining her idea and asking her readers to help her by knitting or sewing some birds of their own. With that post, Cooper’s Flock was born- and soon birdies began flying in from readers all over the country. Word spread, and by the time of Cooper’s memorial service in May there were over 300 birds. As Lucinda and Jamey stood that day, surrounded by family and friends who had come to say goodbye to their little boy, they took comfort in the hundreds of brightly colored birds that covered every tree and rock around them. A few weeks after his service, Lucinda brought Cooper’s Flock to the hospital, where they now provide comfort to hundreds of families.
As devastating as Cooper’s death had been, and as much as they still mourned him, Lucinda and Jamey knew that they wanted to be parents again. Lucinda soon found herself pregnant with another little boy and in an amazing coincidence, she gave birth on another holiday. On February 14, 2010 – the holiday devoted to hearts – Chace Wallace Snyder Gerenski was born. Like his brother, Chace already has a nickname- “Bean”.
Natalie and I had the amazing opportunity to photograph Chace a couple of weeks ago in Lucinda and Jamey’s home in Webster. Chace is a gorgeous baby, serious and alert. His heart is perfectly healthy, and we certainly had the opportunity to hear how healthy his lungs are! We started off downstairs, photographing Lucinda and Chace together. He was a bit cranky, but we were able to get some beautiful pictures.
As Chace started to get sleepy, we decided to move upstairs to his nursery. At this point, I asked Lucinda what she thought about trying to photograph Chace with one of Cooper’s knit birds. As his eyelids drooped, Lucinda grabbed one of Cooper’s birds and handed it to me. Very slowly, so as to not wake him up, I began to slide the bird in between Chace’s hands. He stirred and his eyelids fluttered – and for a moment we all held our breath, afraid he’d wake up. However, his eyes closed again while his fingers found the bird and grasped it tightly. Within moments, Chace was in a deep sleep. As we watched, it felt almost as if both boys were there together- Chace sleeping peacefully with Cooper’s bird. It was a moment that I don’t think Natalie or I will ever forget.
Soon Jamey came home from work and we were able to get some wonderful photos of the entire family- Sabre and Bailey included. Some of our favorite photographs happened when Jamey changed into a tank top that exposed the gorgeous tattoo on his arm that he got in memory of Cooper.
Jamey and Lucinda still have hard days. They are mourning the death of one child while being elated over and building new memories with another child. As we share these photos with you today, we are happy and sad for them, but our hope is that these photographs will give them some sort of comfort. We hope that in the years to come these photographs will serve as a reminder of the love they have for both of their children- the Birdy and the Bean.
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1 comments:
absolutely positively beautiful. such a gorgeous family. you really captured their depth and sense of hope and happiness. i love the one of chace holding the sweet birdie. what precious pics!
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