A friend passed along a "goodbye" story the other day that I must share because it is heartbreakingly powerful.
It's about a labor and delivery nurse in Florida who sews tiny outfits for the rare times when a baby in her hospital doesn't make it. Written by Thomas French of the St. Petersburg Times, the article recounts the story of a couple, Mary and Steve Spittka, whose daughter was stillborn despite an emergency Cesarean section. He describes how nurse Lois Bineshtarigh helped soothe their pain by baptizing Lindsay Rose and -- with incredible tenderness -- dressing her in a handmade gown with ribbon and lace so the couple could hold her, take photos, and say goodbye.
The wrenching piece was published in February 2003, and nine months later (as I discovered through Google), Lois lost her 16-year-old son in a head-on car crash. She planned to keep stitching gowns for the babies, but first she had to choose a funeral outfit for her own precious child.
Grab some tissues for "A gown for Lindsay Rose" . . . and some more for "This time, she must dress her own son"
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