Sunday, February 19, 2012

Remembering Travis

A year ago today, we lost one of the brighest eyes and strongest men this planet knew.  This man was a mere 16-months old but had endured more pain and suffering and joy than any man I know. 

Meet Travis Gary DiCarlo.


Travis passed away following open heart surgery.  Even though Trav's mom is one of my dearest friends, I was stunned to read a line from her blog this morning:

"I gave up my last chance to hold my baby so that his organs could help someone else."

As a heart parent, we tout how significant organ donation is.  As a human being, we should all read Travis' mom's words over and over and over again.  She GAVE UP her last chance to hold her son so that the placement of his life support (ECMO) would remain in tact and his organs not be compromised for someone else's child.  I cannot even comprehend the magnitude of that statement. When it comes to children with congenital heart defects passing, which unfortunately I am no stranger to, my mind simply freezes.  It's paralyzed.  It's a defense mechanism for me.  So much so, that I cannot even continue with this train of thought...

For Travis' 'angelversary', all of us at Sisters by Heart created an event to celebrate Travis' life and the impact he had on our world.  We engaged the heart community and family and friends to help us send red balloons with rememberance tags into the sky across the country.

A few of the Rememberance Tags with one of the sweetest faces I've ever seen....



And our emotional balloon release for Travis...


(Travis' spirit surrounding Zoe during our photo shoot)

(Zoe releasing her balloon)




To visit or participate in the event "Balloons for Travis" and see photos from across the country, visit http://tinyurl.com/balloonsfortravis.
Take a moment and cherish your loved one's today.  Hug them and let them know you love them.  Life is too short... all we have is the present moment.


4 comments:

  1. Love the pictures, so sweet. <3 That quote broke my heart, and was so powerful as a mom to read. Its so hard to put myself in those shoes. I wish we could share our hearts just as easily as we share the love that comes from them. What a difference it would make. Until then, we have so much hope for all of them, and we are sharing as much of our hearts we possibly can. <3

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