I don't usually write so often on this blog, but I am so filled with renewed energy that I just had to write. Doug and I just returned from our first concert at the Gorge in George. Yes indeed, we were the oldest attendees at the Sasquatch Festival and I am overwhelmed with all that happened and the beauty of the place and the power of nature. I so needed to experiance the music firsthand by one of my all-time favorite musicians, Ben Harper. He delivered in a way that leaves me singing his praises. A fan could not have asked for more. When he sang "Pleasure and Pain," alone in front of 22,000 young people and two middle-aged parents, I was overcome with the power of his lyrics, even though I know them so well. It sounded so healing and so tender to my heart, which has been a bit raw from all that has happened in the past year.

"I have felt pleasure
and I have felt pain
And I know now
that I can never be the same."

I would never turn my back on this special type of photography. I treasure the children and love their presence in my life. It's just hard to keep balanced between this pleasure and pain, but I promise to try with a pure and open heart. No doubt friends find me preoccupied sometimes but I thank them for accepting the changes in me.

The Festival at the Gorge had so many other wonderful parts that touched my soul: the beauty of the location...how the young people were so kind and welcoming..... how wonderful it was to see my friends Matt and Betty, whose wedding I had the pleasure of recording last year...the incredible feeling when my youngest daughter Llewelyn found me in that crowd and came to listen with Doug and me when the most amazing hailstorm hit----lasting so long that everyone, even those in rain gear, were soaked and laughing with the power and size of the pellets and the drama of the thunder and lightening that shut down the entire venue for 2 and a half hours...sleeping in a field with 15,000 young people and it being totally silent in the middle of the night... leaving the show to hear a chorus of frogs matching the human tunes in grace and soulfulness....and getting Doug's new vehicle stuck in the muddy mess that they call a campground. Good thing the sun was out this morning to hopefully dry out the 'roads' through the campground or it will be a show in itself trying to remove thousands of cars from that mire.

I returned home to great news that Channon's latest scans are looking good! I ran into Barry and his mom when visiting the hospital on Friday and his scans show that some worrisome spots on his lungs haven't disappeared, but they indeed look better and his mom was so happy that we just started laughing with joy. There were three emails that melted me, one a blog about Taryn's visit to Seattle, another from her grandmother thanking us, and one from Conner's mom, was sharing a video she made of the show in Washington, DC. I was moved to tears to get a phone message from old friends that they will be coming to dinner at our new place in Ballard. Since we last saw them they have lost one of their precious daughters and I know that the time with them will be indeed one of renewed friendship as well as shared sorrow. I know that I will grow and feel so touched when seeing these lovely people again.

I am posting a photo of our Llewelyn and me at the Gorge.....If you know anyone who owns one of the companies that has box seats that were mostly empty there last night, tell them you know a crazy middle-aged woman who tries to be a good person and would love to sit in those seats next time Ben or Van or Neil or Dave or Bruce comes to the Gorge, as the mosh pit was exciting but may be a bit much as the years pass by!!!



In love and peace, Lynette

Each week brings its own rewards and sorrows when working with a mission such as ours at Soulumination. I am sad to say I'm sorry I never got to meet baby Noah, but am so thankful for the fact that his parents have so selflessly donated enough funds to pay the costs we incur for the next Soul family. To think they took time to think of others in this way speaks of the legacy they are building for their son and it moves me completely.

I also want to mention the loss of yet another woman to ovarian cancer. She leaves this life after fighting the battle for an amazing three years. She was a dear friend of our supporter and volunteer Kari, and her passing touches so many lives. I just received the latest photos of my new friend Camari, who is fighting her second bout with breast cancer. These photos are the latest in a series we are recording and show her in her firefighting gear. I hope to put up a nice collage of the work at some point in the near future. The triumphs with Camari and the loss of Patti just keep fresh in my mind that in the future we will work out a project to benefit research in these devastating cancers.

Tuesday was such a highlight for me as a new Soul family arrived from California and were brought to my studio by local photographer Susan Doupe, who is a volunteer with Soulumination. This vibrant group included the mom and dad, older brother and sister, Taryn the four-year-old who suffers from a mitochondrial disease and her vivacious two-year-old sister. The entire family radiates love and care for this darling girl who does not speak or hear. She is so full of smiles and has such a gentle and sweet demeanor. We had the best time together and I have been so touched by the lovely emails that I have received from the father. We hope to have photos ready for them by midweek and I am posting today a photo that the dad sent of me playing with Taryn after the shoot.

You can also see photos that were released by Skylar's family. He is the little guy who suffers with SMA Type 11/111. I met him last week and am so happy to say that the family is looking forward to taking him home from the hospital sometime soon. I peeked in his room today as I was leaving the hospital, but he was sleeping and I did not see his mom in his room at that moment, but he looked so darling as he is one handsome little person.

Tonight I am trying to relax and calmly deal with feelings that are so flooding my heart. I got a call this afternoon asking if I could come to Children's almost immediately. There was time to deliver film to the printer and grab lunch on the run, then I was at the hospital in an hour and a half. My morning had started with the most engaging three-year-old client. Ben is new to my business and came with a yellow lab and two very personable parents. Ben and I had a rousing morning and ended up in the courtyard with him being pulled around on one of my office chairs, first by me and then by the dog. We laughed and had just the best time while his parents and I talked about the project. It was only an hour after this smiling whirlwind named Ben left that the hospital call came through. The beautiful seven=year-old I met was so tenderly attended by her mom, dad, and older sister. This little spunky girl loves horses and is a dancer. She was surrounded by many stuffed horses and had very recently spent an entire afternoon riding a friend's pony. It is hard to imagine that her life is at its end when she had been such a spirited child so very recently. The loving older sister especially touched my heart as she was reading to this lovely child and taking special efforts to be sure she was positioned nicely and that her skin was kept soft with lotion. One of the many things that I take when leaving such a family is that we all must live each day fully, we must not take our loved ones for granted and we must honor each life with an open heart and not shy away when things become just so very sad. The two children I photographed today were both a gift in my life, one with energy and vitality to burn, while the other so near the end of life, but equally compelling. The lessons are hard, but the joy of each child shines through the tears and I am so blessed to have been entrusted with recording such beautiful spirits.

I need to say that the requests are coming faster, the word spreading so that parents are becoming aware of the possibility of Soul photos. Please remember that with this increase, the cost of running this is continually rising. Please let me know if you have ideas about possible grants or other means of fundraising. I worry so much about this part of it as I never want to turn down a request. So far we are hanging in there but the stress of funding wears on me and I so badly want to feel that it will all work out. In general I trust that if we honor each family in the best way possible, then the money will follow---let's hope so.

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend, in love and peace, Lynette

I want to thank my friends, Susan, Kari and Sidni, for spending time with me this past week to make the lovely photo albums that our Soul families receive. Not only did they take time out of their busy lives to create these lovely gifts, but Susan has donated most of the supplies. These women bring talent, laughter and joy into my life, and I am so thankful for such caring friends.

I have an opportunity coming up to speak with the nurses at Harborview. I will be honored to learn from the staff at this facility that offers care in such a different way from our other hospitals. I know I will learn about the idea of legacy when there has been trauma and something tells me it will be a powerful experiance and may lead to many new insights.

I had a most wonderful time speaking at Meadowdale High School. My friend Jeremy Leffel is one amazing teacher, plus he had invited his friend, who is an administrator at the school and who lost her son five years ago, to attend the class. This wonderful mom had such powerful words to share about her experiance and about the fact that she did not have the services of Soulumination. I am printing the letter below so you can see into the thoughts of someone who deals daily with the loss of her precious child:

" Your photographs are a gift that keeps giving....a picture to illustrate a family’s story. I know that you have received many messages on what it means to have been blessed with your photography, so my thoughts are from the opposite end of the spectrum - what it feels like when you have not been blessed by Lynette Johnson. The most simple explanation – it is a children’s story book without pictures.

Parents who have experienced infant death are invisible. It is a story that is written that is never published. It is a story that can not find an illustrator. My story is in my heart and what I have is not a book or a picture, but instead a gold ring engraved with my son’s name “Luke” and on the inside his birth date (2/17/01) and death date (3/5/01). To me, I feel like I will die an author that was never known. My gold ring will hopefully live on and I pray that my son remains a part of our family story. It is hard to know if he will because he is missing from the pictures taken during family vacations, family gatherings, holidays, and family portraits – it will be easy to forget that my daughter has 2, not 1, younger brothers and that my son has an older brother in addition to his older sister. My story is not written because I choose not to write it, but rather because there is no one to read it. As you know, newspapers, television producers, even Oprah, will not touch this topic because it is “too depressing.” Unfortunately, as one of those parents I was never given the option of not losing my child because it would be too sad, yet everyone else gets to choose if they want to hear it?

Thankfully, for Lynette, there is a voice to our grief and a picture to our story. I am regretful that Lynette did not come into my life 5 years ago when I was in Children’s Hospital and the day that my son died in my arms on my couch. However, I want to celebrate for those parents whose family story has a picture! It is because of Lynette that these parents are no longer invisible. As a matter of fact, she has made the parents' story visible and the child’s life is now being shared and even celebrated!

........... you choose to care about something that you do not need to care about. You choose to validate a life that our culture forgets. You choose to care about the broken hearts of parents when no one else believes their heart is broken. You are bringing national attention to people stricken with grief and as a result making every one of them learn that they are not alone, they are not invisible. Your passion and your empathy are unforgettable – simply remarkable!

I will share your volunteer opportunities and fundraising opportunities with our Seniors, as well as my friends and family.

Sincerely,
Christine


Tomorrow we are honored to have a family travel from California who has a lovely daughter with Mitochondrial Disease, so rare no other has been diagnosed in the world. They are bringing their three other children and I will take photos of the entire family.

My life is full of so many opportunities to be of service and of course I could not continue without the great staff of Christine, Sarah and Auni, plus my great board members, friends, family and donors. I am so thankful to Microsoft for their matching funds program, I am hopeful that each year more of their employees will discover our project and be moved to give. I hope you are sharing our video of the work and salute once again, my amazing friend June who produced this wonderful piece. Today I am posting photos of one of the new Soul children. Her name is Echo and her stunning eyes will let you see how perfect it is that we call these little ones our Soul children or angel babies as her eyes are so very beautiful and soulful. In love and peace, Lynette

I had the pleasure of meeting yet another wonderful family at Children's Hospital yesterday. Their son is just 13 months old and is one handsome little guy. He had surgery the day before and woke up while I was there to see the smiling faces of mom, dad, brother and sister. I originally thought I was only going to meet the mom, but the rest of the family joined us and I am so excited that all were included. This little guy has SMA Type II which is Spinal Muscular Atrophy. He is such a charmer that they had to point out to me that he has a new trach tube. I am happy to say that they will let me share photos once they are processed. Watch for this little one to be posted here soon.

Today I am posting a couple of the photos from the speaking engagement in Cleveland. The one shows me with Katie Dolesh's sister. The Dolesh family sponsors the yearly speaker in memory of Katie who was such a powerful person in compassionate work in the Cleveland area.

We have the new video being sent out via email and I hope you will share it with your friends. Sometimes I wonder if I have made it clear that I do my part of Soulumination free of charge. Of course the entire service is free to the families and is covered by donations, but sometimes my friends and advisors say," are you sure people are clear about the fact that your work is all done free of charge?" I want to be clear on that so that you know your donations go directly to the costs of running this organization and providing the shoot for the families. Our new hire, Christine is doing an outstanding job and I can tell that in time I will have more time for myself, which I think is important if I am to continue the project throughout my lifetime. It is such a blessing to meet so many amazing children and their families but I know there is a toll on my emotions and am striving to keep myself in a heatlthy and calm state of mind. If you know of any organization that might have a grant program that could benefit Soulumination, please let me know. Its wearing having to worry about funding when what I really want to do is just honor each request from each new family and speak to help educate about the process of honoring each life.

I speak this week at Meadowdale High School. I always look forward to seeing the work of talented students and sharing with them the fact that photography has been such an amazing profession.

We deliver photos to two new families this week and Auni dropped off to a third family on Saturday. I am thrilled to say that our 5th Tay Sacks child was photographed in Pennsylvania this past week by my dear friend Sarah Mattingly. It is the very first time we have sent a different shooter out to work, but hopefully we will get a few lined up and ready to go in the Seattle area should I feel the need for a break or happen to be busy when a need arises. I will share Sarah's photos with you just as so0n as releases are signed. The shots are stunning and I am so thankful to Sarah for all she has done for us in the DC area.

In love and peace, Lynette

Its been a busy week and I would like to share with you some photos of an amazing baby named Bryant who is defying all odds and will beat the devastating diagnosis of a rare blood condition that had a 5% survival rate. I am thrilled to say he is getting ready to travel back home to Montana. His victory seems similar to that of our beloved Emily. I received an update from her parents and she continues to make progress on all fronts and is living with all great signs of having beaten her leukemia.

I have worked with three new families this week. The first came to visit me here in my Ballard studio and she is a beauty indeed. She reminds me of our lovely Charlotte as she has the most amazing large eyes and such a dreamy quality to her face. Her parents are such wonderful, caring people who had so much to share with me about how this wonderful child has added to their life.

The second family lives in Sammamish and the devoted mom had called me herself to ask if I would consider taking shots of their son who was born with a very rare genetic syndrome. They will be moving soon to the midwest and I am so honored to have had time with these three and thelively and lovely 2 year old sister and their charming little dog. Again, this couple had words of wisdom and kindness that made the day seem so very blessed. This tiny baby lost his grandpa just days before his birth. I know this time has been so hard on this family but they greeted me with so much grace that it melted me completely.

Just a few hours ago I returned from Children's hospital where I worked with a young native American couple and their infant son. This handsome little baby was surrounded by so many adoring relatives and I was glad to be able to have enough time to take shots for each family member as they kissed and held this little guy.

I am pleased to say that our new employee, Christine is already accomplishing so much. Days are sometimes long and hard for me and I know she will soon make a difference by lightening my work load here in the office. Auni is of course doing a great job of transfering needed information. Sarah is here Tuesdays only to do all the work involving the actual photographs and gifts for each family. I am starting to see that we can run an efficient and meaningful foundation and still maintain a quality of life needed to nurture my own family and loved ones. I thank all of you who help make this work possible.

I am so pleased with the results of the hard work of my good friend June Noren and Soniquest Music and Flicker and Blur for the beautiful work on the video that I will email out hopefully by tomorrow, you can also click here or on the collage below to see it on the site.



I am so hopeful that the video will inspire people to give funds to keep this all moving forward. If you receive the video via email please pass it on to all those you know who might want to see what we are doing and might be willing to be of support. We are receiving more requests than ever so funding without a lot of hoopla is very important. I am tired after all that we have done this week alone and hope I never have to stage a big fundraiser as I know the real work must be with the families. I close as always, in love and peace, Lynette

I didn't get to bed until 1 am today as I had the honor of welcoming my new friend, Finnley, into the world. I nearly got to see the entire birth along with a dozen others, but they whisked mommy Dawnelle and daddy Greg off to an operating room in the last minutes to be sure they were ready in case added medical attention was needed. I salute the staff at Swedish Hospital for their great care of our lovely Dawnelle and her family. Dawnelle is my assistant and such a dear part of the Johnson family life that we have been awaiting this birth with much excitement. Finnley is one beautiful baby girl and I can't wait for another chance to hold her as I think I was fourth in line for that honor last night. I will post her photos as soon as they are processed.

I am pleased to post a few of the most recent photos of my little friend Claire. She brought such light into my studio last week and I am thrilled to share these photos as she truly is such a joy in my life. Claire is the Soul child that is battling Blackfan Diamond anemia. This little girl is a strong one; keep her in your heart.

We are pleased to announce the hiring of Christine Garrigan to work with Soulumination. She was referred to me by a wonderful friend, as was our other top candidate. It was a tough decision, but I am hoping we can incorporate the other finalist into Soul in the future. Auni will start training Christine this coming Monday.

Today I go to lunch with the other foundation heads who are lucky enough to be getting interns from Teens in Public Service. I am so excited to be working with them again this year, as last years interns, Auni and Daniel, are still with us and were such valuable assets to Soulumination.

Soon we will start emailing a slide show about the work of Soulumination to all our families, friends and supporters. It was produced by Flicker and Blur and scored by Soniquest Music. I have seen the piece and it is just so beautiful. I am so hoping that when you receive it you will send it on to your email list, as it's so important that we keep spreading the word and educating the public. Our first newsletter will also be going out later this month and it is my hope that between these two items we will receive enough financial backing to keep strong and viable and ready to fill each request. My heartfelt thanks to June, Bettijean, and Tamara for making the email piece a reality. June really put her heart and soul into this and I know you will recognize that as you view the presentation. Similarly, Lori has been laboring with love over the newsletter and I thank Anne, Mark and Aaron for guiding her to the final product.

I speak at Blanchet High School on the 13th. I am honored to tell the story of my quest to follow my heart from youth to middle age. Photography has been a passion that has led me to count myself one of the luckiest women alive. To do for a living what I do for pleasure and then wrap that into a foundation that is serving such amazing families, well, lets say it leaves me one happy person. In love and peace, Lynette