Thank you to God for blessing me this year with another beautiful, healthy child to add to our growing family. Thank you to Him for my other children, who at times are quite rambunctious, but they are good as gold and they love me unconditionally as I do them.
I give all the glory to Him for allowing me to start this little photography business. And many thanks to all my clients of 2009 who took a chance on me and allowed me to photograph them, their children, and/or their families. I'm beyond grateful and I only hope that my business will continue to grow in 2010.
Now, back to the announcment. I decided to not be a judge in this contest, since I knew most of the people that were being nominated. There were three judges and they had no clue who each of the nominated families were since I removed all mention of names in the emails I received. I wish every nomination could be picked because they were all very deserving, but there's only so much time in every day that I can do this, and with a new baby, my time is even more limited. So quit babbling, Steph, get on with it!
The following is the email I received. It was very endearing and even brought tears to my eyes. And I'm sure you will feel the same...
"Stephanie,
I would like to nominate a family from Kennett. Keith, Michelle, Kevin, Lil' Keith, Kara and Alayna Johnson. We are very close to this family and they have been a blessing to us. I went to school with Keith and he is one of my husband's best friends. Keith got married soon after high school and had twin boys, Kevin and Keith, which are now 16. They will be 17 in January. Two years later they had their daughter Kara.
I am not sure when exactly that they found out there was something wrong with two of his kids but they did find out that Keith and Kara had Morquio Syndrome. Morquio Syndrome is a genetic disease of metabolism in which the body is missing or doesn't have enough of a substance needed to break down long chains of sugar molecules called glycosaminoglycans. There is a 1 out of 200,000 births this would happen and to them it happened twice. Keith and his wife divorced and she left him with all three kids.
They have had numerous surgeries over the years, had to be in bed for long periods of time, and even where the body halos. Keith did all he could do for his children. He had to quit work to care for them. They have been held back in school due to missing school due to the surgeries. This disease causes abnormal heart developments, large fingers, knocked knees, dwarfism. They have to use walkers and wheelchairs because they can not walk due to the pain. This of course does not stop them from doing things.
Keith is in the choir at school. The kids at Kennett Public Schools are wonderful to them. They are such of the best kids and truely thankful for their life. Also, it is hard on Kevin as well. He looks over both of them and it is hard for him trying to live a normal life and do things that they can never do.
Keith finally remarried a few years ago to Michelle. She is wonderful with the kids. They had another daughter Alayna a little over a year ago. (I believe the mother was the carrier of the disease so they were not concerned about that.) Alayna adores the older children. I think they love the attention.
What I have seen over the years is that whatever you could do for these children they were appreciative. Whether you gave them something new or old they still kept smiling. It is hard not to love them. What I have read about this disease is that the life expectancy is usually between 20 to 30 years old. I can not imagine knowing that your child or children may have lived half of their life. They do not ever talk about that, they just cherish what they have.
I think they are deserving of being recognized. They truly are a blessing. They do not dwell on what they have been dealt with but praise God for it. This has only made them a stronger family. The go to church religiously and do no question what they have been given but are truly thankful that God has picked them to care for these children."
Is your Kleenex soaked? Uh-huh, thought so. When I read this email, I just knew they would be picked. Being a parent, a mother at that, I can't begin to imagine that any of my children could be anything other than healthy. I know these parents have seen their share of struggles, but from the sounds of the email, they have God in their hearts and live each day fully.
I'm excited to meet this awesome family and give them something special to remind them of their strong family bond for many years to come. Congratulations and I'll be contacting you soon!
Also, thank you to Charitie Jones for the nomination. I can tell how strongly you felt about this family and I'm happy that you are also a winner with a $50 print credit and no session fee on your next booking.
Again, thank you to everyone who nominated a special, deserving family. I hope you all have a very blessed Merry Christmas and remember that Jesus is the Reason for the season! (None of that Happy Holidays baloney!)
And since it is Christmas time, here's a cute lil' dude to make you smile even more...
