Ruby Jane's Service

Just recently I got to participate in a wonderful service project. Lots of cemeterys nationwide have an Angel of Hope, and once a year, on Dec. 6th, they have a memorial service for all of the parents who lost a child. Remember my friend Ani Taylor (I blogged recently about her here)? Whose daughter, Ruby Jane Taylor, didn't get her liver transplant in time and left us? Well, in Ca, Ani organized a group who went to the cemetery on Dec. 6th, and cleaned the headstones and left flowers on the graves. Read about it here. Lots of people who lived in different parts of the United States did the same thing at the cemeteries in their areas. So I went to the nearest cemetery with an Angel of Hope memorial and did the project in Utah. The closest one was at the Ogden City Cemetery, which is about 1 1/2 hours away from Provo (about 1/2 from Salt Lake City). They had a "smaller" cemetery with about 220 headstones. They didn't have a children's section, so I had to walk up and down the cemetery and do the math (its a good thing I graduated college).

Some things happened and I ended up being there alone but, in some ways, I am grateful for that. It was, obviously, much more personal and meaningful. Walking up and down the rows of headstones and looking for the tiny markers was so sad. It was extra sad when I saw two graves near eachother of babies with the same last name that were a couple years apart. That poor, poor mom. The best we can do is pray for her.

It was insightful looking at the dates. I am not too young to die. There were so many young adults. How come I got kicked in the head by a HORSE and am doing pretty dang good these days? It just made me appreciate my life and my babies health so much. Either I have been blessed or I'm super lucky.

Here are some images from Ogden City Cemetery.


Merry Christmas, guys.


The guy who was in charge of the memorial called me to ask me why I did it and stuff. I told him it was for the Ruby Jane Foundation. I got to explain that one of our big goals is Organ Donation Awareness. I was so happy he asked! I love Ruby, and I love Ani, and I am so happy to do whatever I can for Ani and Ruby's cause.