Words From a Guest Blogger, Tiny Light Mom, Nicola

We wish to thank another one of our Tiny Light Moms for sharing her words as a Guest Blogger. Nicola's family's story and photos will be featured soon, so please keep an eye on our website to see more! If you would like to be a Tiny Light Guest Blogger and share your Tiny Light experience, please email angela@thetinylight.com

Thank you to all of the wonderful people that have already shared!

When I first heard about the Tiny Light Foundation it was through a friend who had “liked” their page on Facebook.  I read about the Foundation and couldn’t believe that photographers were actually willing to donate their time to give families such wonderful memories.  I am the mother of 2 “Tiny Lights”, although one of them is not so tiny – Matt is 18 and has a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy. Our second “Tiny Light”, Caleb, is 5 and has Autism and in between these two special boys we have been blessed with a beautiful daughter, Jayden, who is 7 and was a long awaited gift from God (11 years of waiting to be exact).

We all know photography can be expensive, but that coupled with the patience and time required to photograph children with some sort of challenge makes it almost impossible for some.  Two years ago we tried to do a family photo session with my husband’s family and it was very stressful, to say the least.  Caleb, our youngest son was just going through assessments for Autism at that time.  We did get a wonderful family picture, but that was only through the magic of photo-shop.  Our photographer at the time was able to snap some pictures of Caleb playing on his own around some columns and she photo-shopped him into our family picture.  As beautiful as that family picture is, I still look at it and know that Caleb wasn’t truly in that shot.  So, when I heard of this amazing foundation I thought I would send our story and apply for a session.  When I found out we were going to have this amazing opportunity I was thrilled.  

Our Tiny Light photographer, Oliver Rathonyi – Reusz of In View Images was nothing short of amazing.  He suggested an outdoor shoot as Caleb loves to be outdoors, but this proved to be a bit challenging because of our wet BC weather this year.  Between the weather and our busy family schedule it took a while for the shoot to actually happen; but it did it was well worth the wait.  The day was sunny and slightly cloudy but warm enough for us to be outdoors without our jackets.  Oliver made us all feel so comfortable, we chatted about our family, his family and the kids took to him straight away.  He was patient and understanding and took the time to work with us all in, what was to the kids, a fun day at the park not the work of a family photo shoot. The images he captured truly captured the essence of our family. We are thankful beyond words for the blessings of that day.  

Melissa and Billie, while we have never met, we are so thankful for the vision you have to give families who are enduring sometimes extreme hardships this very special gift. To all of the Tiny Light photographers, and we see this number growing every day, thank you so much for your dedication to this wonderful Foundation and the many families you are touching.  Your gift is a gift that will last a lifetime.  To the other Tiny Light families, we are connected by difficult circumstances, yet each story is touching the lives of every person who reads these heart-warming stories and sees the beautiful pictures of each of these very special gifts from God, these Tiny Lights.  

Thank you just doesn’t seem to say enough for all this Foundation is doing to bless families, raise awareness and to put faces to each diagnosis that affects them. My God bless you richly as you endeavour to bless others.

With deepest gratitude,

The Mitchell Family (Nicola, Todd, Matt, Jayden and Caleb)

If you would like to donate to Caleb's Crew and the Walk Now For Autism Speaks Vancouver Event please see the Mitchell Family Fundraising page: http://www.walknowforautismspeaks.ca/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&eventID=509&participantID=3307