Since Z's passing Chris and I have talked about what we were going to do to memorialize our daughter. We know that we wanted to give back as we recieved so much love, help, and inspiration throughout her short life. We wanted to help educate and infom others about Z's life and what she was facing. Since then we have become advocates for speaking out about Osteogensis Imperfecta (OI) in numerous ways. We participated in Bloomsday not long after her passing and talked to everyone we could about OI. We wore yelow t-shirts with her pictures to help raise awareness for Wishbone Day. Chris established "From Z With Love" to help new parents with OI children learn more about the condition and let them know that they were not alone in thier struggles. We have also become very active in Brief Encounters, a support group we attend for bereaved parents.
And on her birthday we did our daughter the greatest honor we thought possible. We decided to collect items for the St. Vincents NICU where she spend her first 9 days. We colleced items from blankets to toys and donated them all to the NICU. Chris called it "Zayana's Birthday Bash" and we celebrated her birthday in the place she was born. It felt really good to give back on such a grand scale. I think it helped us get through the day.
Below is the KGW story they ran on us.
Chris and I would like to thank you everyone who donated to Zayana's Birthday Bash. You helped to make it such a success. Again thank you all and we look forward to Z' B-day Bash 2012!
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