Lifted up by Angels
A couple of weeks ago, we received a message from Keri, a Well Dressed Wolf mother who lost her baby too soon. She simply wanted to share memories and photos of her happy little girl wearing our dresses for so many special moments in her short life. We were overcome with emotion. What on earth could we say or do to properly honor this precious child? Nothing, of course, will ever be enough. Still, it took only a few moments for Shannon to recall a design just coming off of the production line-- an innocent white dress with sleeves like angel wings. It felt like the perfect tribute, so our Angel Dress became the Sammie Angel Dress. Her story brought to mind other children who have been made known to us and touched our hearts, so we want to honor them here, too.
I hope you'll take a few moments to celebrate the lives of these special little girls.
Sammie Joyce Volmert
Sammie was only 17 months old when a tragic heater malfunction in her upstairs bedroom claimed her life. Though the thermostat was set to 72 degrees, the second floor temperature climbed to over 100 degrees in the night, and Sammie's young body was unable to recover.
Named after her great grandmother (Sammie) and her paternal grandmother (Joyce), she always was an angel on earth, loved by all who knew her. Charming, feminine, independent, and spunky, Sweet Sammie radiated joy-- and I feel blessed to get to know her through stories and photos.
She was the happiest little girl and was always smiling and dancing. She would eat anything (salmon and sushi since she was nine months old!) and shared my love for food and clothes. When I would pick her up from school (she started going two days a week in October) I would start to take her uncomfortable Joyfolie shoes off and she would get mad and try to put them back on. She was the light of our lives and meant everything to us. She was as sweet as she could be and everything feminine... Still, she loved to play with her brother Jackson's trucks and tried so hard to kick the soccer ball harder than he could. It would drive my husband nuts to see how many packages we would get in a day but as soon as she put a dress on and pranced around the room, mommy was forgiven.
~Keri Volmert
Keri, a conscientious (even overprotective) mother, feels very passionate about educating others so this never happens to another family. She has created a facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/sammiejoycevolmert) to provide insight and spread awareness and we hope you will read more about it and share with others.
Maisyn Emarie Boyer
Maisyn was born on August 9, 2012. At five days old, she went into cardiac arrest and was later diagnosed with CACT, a genetic fatty oxidation disorder that prevents the body from breaking down fat into energy. CACT is one of many genetic conditions that is tested for in newborn screenings. Our family had no prior incidents of this condition so the results were extremely unexpected. From the outside looking in, you never would've guessed how fragile she was. She looked and appeared healthy. She loved bubbles and Barney. She was so friendly and outgoing. She would often yell across parking lots to strangers just to tell them hi and it always brought a smile to everyone's face. She loved shopping and would never complain about being out and about. She was so happy and so full of life despite all she had been through.
Maisyn lived a wonderful 22 months before she very suddenly passed away with her parents by her side on June 13, 2014. For such a small little person she showed our family how to live and appreciate everything in life.
~ Krystal Boyer
Krystal was carrying a baby boy when Maisyn passed away and he was born perfectly healthy (he is now fifteen months old). For more information about Maisyn and fatty oxidation disorders, please visit https://www.fodsupport.org/maisyn.htm and/or https://m.facebook.com/MaisynEmarieBoyer
Anastasia Grace Abell
Anastasia was born on April 8, 2014. She was a beautiful little blessing from God. She loved hot dogs, dancing, and playing patty cake. She loved to run free and play dress up and get all pretty!
On May 30, 2015 she was 13 months old. We went to my stepmother's house for a family dinner. I handed the baby to my husband and he sat under a tree with her. Without warning, a 20 foot tree limb fell 50 feet leaving my husband with serious injuries and killing her two days later. Not a day goes by that I don't remember her laughter or the way she would say "bye bye". I loved watching her dance to the tv show Night Court. And I remember her coming up while I was sleeping, and she would smack me in the face and laugh! Her favorite thing was the dolly she slept with. She always loved having her dolly with her. She also loved being in my arms... she loved snuggles and lovins... 💖
She was a true Diva, our beautiful princess Anastasia-- and everyday I carry her with me.
A piece of advice: love your children as if it is their last day on earth. Love your children and give them the love they need because at anytime God could call them home...
~Nichole Abell
Each child is a gift from God, whether he's in my arms for a single day or in my home until college. I have often needed a reminder to cherish every bit of them. Cherish the pregnancy pains, the sweet baby breath at 2AM, the colic, the noise, the crumbs, the toys, the tantrums, the diapers... Regardless of what tomorrow has in store, these years are fleeting and no one is exempt from the passage of time. Let's thank God for all of our angels- those still with us and those who sweetly wait for us to meet them again. I'll end with the closing lines from Sammie's eulogy, delivered by a family friend:
"...He said to his disciples, 'Let the little children come to me and do not stop them, for the kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.' If Heaven is made up of people like our Sweet Sammie, then I am 100% sure that that is where I also want to be."
We couldn't agree more. *Please feel free to share your own stories, memories, or names of angels you have known. ❤
We have 3 beautiful girls. Our last sweet girl, Olivia Mae, was born sleeping at 25 weeks. She was completely healthy and growing normally until one day she wasn’t. They induced me on April 25th 2018 and on April 26th our sweet Olivia Mae was born into Heaven. They couldn’t tell us why or what happened just that something must have not developed correctly. I say she was too pure for this world so God chose to keep her that way. I’ll always wonder and imagine what’d she’d be like or what she’d look like (our 2 older girls are totally different, so I didn’t know what to expect). Approaching our due date this month hasn’t been the easiest, but we know there’s a reason God chose her. 💜
Love to all you Mommas mourning the loss of your sweet angels. It never gets easier in my opinion, but you move forward for yourself and your family. Always remember 💜
I have a 2 year old, who can be demanding and off the wall sometimes, but I read stories like these and it makes me want to rush to daycare right now and give her a giant kiss and hug. She is wonderfully sassy and hard headed and I need to remember that she won’t always be this small or in some cases tomorrow is never promised. I’ll pray for these families and these little babies because I can’t imagine what it feels like to lose a little one, especially as a mother who carried that child so close for months and months.
Beautiful tribute to these Angels. I wept after I first read of Sammie several weeks ago as I’m sure many of the wdw mothers who learned of her tragedy also did. Sammies mom (and now the moms of these other two precious babies) has been a constant in my prayers. Lifting up these precious mamas from Alabama! Love, Rachel
What an amazing tribute. “And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13.
My sweet little Alivia went to heaven far too soon! She was born full term and deemed healthy. She was beautiful with a full head of brown hair. Within a few hours she began to breath with a whistling sound. They took her to the nursery for observation and a few hours later delivered news that something was wrong. They were going to medivac her to another hospital that was better suited to figure out what was wrong. A few moments later another nurse burst into the room and stated that our daughter had coded and we needed to come now if we wanted to see her alive. After the most stressful hour of our lives, we had to make the horrific decision to let her pass. She died in our arms surrounded by friends and family, as our pastor dedicated her to the Lord. That memory still brings tears to my eyes. We later found out that she died of Group B Strep, which I actually tested negative for a few weeks prior to delivering her. We went on to have two more beautiful children. One of which was a girl. We named her Reese after her big sister, Alivia Reese. Alivia would be 8 years only this May 17th. I thank God for the hope that I will see her again one day. He has give us a peace that passes all understanding. Through it all we have become stronger as a family and in our faith and we have supported and helped others through similar situations. God has a plan and it’s hard to understand why things happen sometimes, but we are so very blessed.