The Chicks Deliver and Eliana's Memorial Gift

Yesterday, November 9, Barbara, Karin, Beth, and I made our deliveries to the Good Samaritan Health Center in Delmar, New York and Community Maternity Services in Albany, New York. We had a combined total of 54 items which you can see in last week's installment of blog entries. Our donation of Pelerine shawls were gratefully accepted with the news that they will be included in the annual Christmas basket gifts which are distributed to the residents of Good Samaritan. Since we made our deliveries in the afternoon we had only the evening session of knitting yesterday.

Here Karin has started another pair of booties and I'm working on a mitered baby sweater. These items, along with other baby clothes and prayer shawls for mothers, will be donated to Esme's Comfort (http://www.newkeymedia.com/esmes_comfort.html), a charity which was started recently to honor the memory of another little girl who was stillborn in September of this year.

Karin, Maureen, and I love working on baby clothes. There are such cute designs available and they finish up so quickly. In case you are wondering, that is the head of DH showing in the lower right hand corner of the photo. He makes sure we stick to the Chicks' Mission Statement and keep those needles clicking! LOL!

For those of you reading this for the first time, our family lost our precious Eliana Marie at birth this summer due to cord complications. My daughter, Amanda, is a member of an online chat room called the Goonies. The members are all mothers whose due dates were March 2007 when Eliana's big brother Moose was born. These wonderful friends immediately came to Amanda's, Phil's and Moose's aid when they heard the tragic news of Eliana's passing. Just one of the things they did was to commission the making of a park bench to be set in the playground of the Collins' family church so parents would have a place to rest while their children played nearby. This past Sunday Christina Novak drove up to Pennsylvania from Virginia to represent the Goonies and dedicate the beautiful bench in Eliana's memory.

left to right: Christina, Amanda, Moose, Phil, and Pastor Wylie of the Springfield Baptist Church

And here is that lovely bench. There will be a plaque installed which reads:

In Loving Memory of Eliana Marie Collins

The Collins family had to make sure it works!

Another generous gift to the family was just for Moose. He was given the gift of making his very own Build-a-Bear. By the time I remembered I had my camera I had already missed a few photo ops of Moose choosing which bear would be his and helping stuff him. But I caught up with him at the "bath and fluffing" station. He so lovingly groomed his new friend.

Then it was time to choose an outfit from among the many that were available. I don't know how Moose was able to narrow down the selections! Even I was overwhelmed!

At the dressing room, Moose carefully moved a stray so he could attend to his friend's needs.

Even Poppop got in on the fun by helping out.

Well, here's "Woody" Bear dressed in the Toy Story clothes. And what does Woody say?

"There's a snake in my boot!"
After "Woody Bear" was all dressed it was time to register him to get his birth certificate. Daddy Phil helped Moose at the computer. He was having as much fun as Moose!

Hurry! I need my Woody Bear!

Are you in there?

It was a wonderful gift to Moose from his Mommy's Goonies friends.

Thank you so much Goonies, for brightening my Moose's day.

God bless you Goonies Girls!