As many of you probably have heard recently their was the passing of a young girl by the name of Devon Wood. I was lucky enough to know Devon. If you didn't know her I'm sure by know you have seen a picture of that beautiful girl with the long red hair. Sure to stand out in a crowd. She also went to xray school and that is how I came to first meet her. I work at Sparta Hospital and have now been there since 2005. Holy crap the same job for 10 years-that makes me feel old. I used to say all the time I would eventually find a different job....I'm still there. I will probably be there forever unless Allie leaves me and then I am going to have to leave too. ( I know eventually you will read this Ms. Allie!) That was sure to make you smile. In these 10 years many students have come and gone. Some you never even think of again, others become friends, and many you randomly cross paths with after they have moved on. I don't even remember what year Devon was our student but I do remember she was a good one. The sweetest and nicest girl.
Fast forward several years and little Lainey arrived into our lives. Allie & Devon both cloth diapered their babies. I had never even entertained the idea until getting all the details from Allie. She of course got info from Devon. When Lainey was 8 weeks old after borrowing some cloth diapers for a few days...I decided to take the plunge. Devon's daughter Darcie was now potty trained and she was
looking to sell her whole stash of diapers. I made the trip to Chester to her house to check them out. She had everything laid out for me diapers, pail, pail liner, wet bag, homeade cloth wipes, leftover detergent, and wipe solutions . All the diapers were of course adorable. She gave me a great deal on price so I couldn't resist. As I was packing everything together to go Devon said, "Do you mind if I keep one?" My response was oh gosh no keep as many as you like. She was sentimental about seeing them go. She kept a bum genius patterned diaper. I just assumed she had a hope chest like many mother's do for their child. I hope one day when her daughter is older she will find that diaper and know that her Mom loved cloth diapering her. You could tell just by the way she spoke that she really enjoyed the whole deal. Once Devon said when she saw pictures of Lainey online wearing the diapers it made her sad and she missed them. I enjoy it as well. Their are days I get tired of spraying out poopy diapers, the extra load of laundry, and the sometimes annoying smell of ammonia returning. Its all worth it though. Soon Lainey will be potty trained and my cloth diapers will be put away. (Until the next kiddo comes along) But for now Devon comes to my mind often as I change my daughter's diaper every day multiple times. I'm sure I drove her and Allie both crazy with my constant questions. Neither one ever complaining and always willing to help me out with information. You can google anything but I trusted their experience more. One cloth diaper mama helping another out!
Last year at Easter time Devon did pictures with bunnies at her home in her kitchen. (Sort of like a mini session). I'm always up for fun pictures so we decided to do them. I had ordered a romper online and had just gotten the shipping email saying it was coming that day. I made a quick stop at the Evansville post office before heading to her house. Lainey was pretty small still prob like 6 months. Devon did a great job taking the pictures. They turned out adorable. It was a fun day! She did them this year as well but by the time she contacted me I had already set up a session with Forever Young Photography. For our wedding, maternity, and newborn-1 year we had pictures done with Creative Bent. They always turn out great and I'm pleased but I just wanted to do something different for the 18 month session. For those pictures I had contacted Devon to do them. She was always posting great photos on her photography facebook page. Devon didn't have a studio so shoots were done pretty much on location. I thought it would be perfect to do the pictures here at our home. On April 27th a Monday we had a fun and exhausting morning of pictures. I always have so many ideas so we tried to get as many as possible in. Before we started we spent a bit of time in the house just chatting about whatever..mainly house building. She and her husband recently sold their house and were going to build eventually. She of course did a great job with Lainey and posted sneak peeks the same day on facebook. I loved all the images she took but now I will truly treasure them even more.
I can probably count on my hand the number of times I seen her after she was no longer our student. I wish she would've been someone I saw on a more regular basis. I purchased some of Darcie's clothes a couple times from her and I always enjoyed our visits. She was so easy to talk to. One of the more recent times we visited she was asking questions about starting a blog. It's amazing how losing one single person affects so many. Today at my eye dr appt in Waterloo one of the girls working knew her from church. Such a small world. It is evident she was loved by many and will be missed each and every day. I know that each person whose life she touched has a story and I just wanted to be able to share mine. Rest in peace sweet Devon. We said goodbye today but you will always be in our memories.
"Live Life and love every day"
New Year's Eve 2011
Pre kids for Allie & I
Devon pregnant with Darcie.
