Weddingbee PRO

In this country lives a family, in the wilds of West Virgina, among acres and acres of hills and ridges and a house they built with their own hands, all the pieces of which, add up to a way of life that I long for. Interestingly enough, and this is a rare case for me, I didn’t take a lot of pictures. Because I wanted to go brush a horse, I wanted to roll in the grass with the neighborhood dog, and generally appreciate my surroundings, so I didn’t step outside and look in as usual. But I did break out the camera momentarily, so that I might record the expressions of this amazing little person. Cooper.

Cooper had not yet been named, when police officers found him swaddled in toddler clothes on a bench just outside the hospital doors. His umbilical cord and placenta was still attached, and there was a couple of weeks of coverage in the local papers, about how the Safe Haven Law saved his life, about how sad it was that a woman might leave her child, though it might have been an act of love when she made the choice to leave him in a safe place where he would be taken care of.

From all the coverage, there were so many people who wanted to take him home. Reuben sent Katherine an email one day upon reading the article, and it said:

We have to get this baby.

And they threw their name in the running, they followed everything by the book, and of all the many people extending their want and love of this very wanted baby, suddenly the hospital called. Would you like to come see him? They were elated. They already have one very young foster child who I hadn’t the pleasure to meet, but it looked like that they suddenly would be going from no babies to 2 babies under the age of 2.

They were in the parking lot. The baby was having heart trouble, and they asked if they could name him before he went into surgery. Cooper. His name was Cooper.

Cooper has undergone one surgery on his heart, and will be undergoing more surgeries as his condition worsens. But he’s a beautiful, smart baby, and we had some backseat bonding time. I like to make him laugh. We got along very nicely. So many people longed to care for this child. Most of those people may never have met him, but his energy is so bright and so grand that it’s not surprising that so many people were drawn to this little baby. And it turns out, he gets to start his life surrounded by great, great love, and some of the kindest most generous people that I have yet the pleasure to meet as his parents. (Thanks so much Katherine and Reuben - we had an amazing time in your amazing home! Love. It’s my favorite thing.

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