Rolling with Ruby: friday.

It's been a while since I've been here. I've been choosing which things to spend my time on and which to neglect. Guess which way I went with this blog. I really wish I'd posted at least weekly for my own taxed memory's sake. I'm pretty random anyway with what I've been posting, so I guess it doesn't matter if the timeline or dates are just right.

The thing that's been on my mind most in the past week is Ruby's friend, 3 year old Abby. Her mom is my friend, Kris. I have photographed her kids since they were babies and I also photographed her wedding. A week ago Abby got e.coli and got dehydrated -- her kidneys began to fail and she was diagnosed with HUS. We have been to see her in the hospital and trying to do little things to help Abby feel better as well as help out her mommy and daddy. Ruby has been telling everyone, even at the grocery store, that she has a friend named Abby who's in the hospital because she's sick. Yesterday we went to visit and it was so hard to see someone else's baby, my own baby's age, in so much pain and miserable. We brought baked goodies and meals as well as things to try to help brighten Abby's day. At first Ruby wasn't sure what to say to her lil' buddy that was whimpering on the bed with all the tubes coming out of her from every which way. But finally she got comfortable and sat on the end of Abby's bed and chatted. The girls shared glow in the dark bracelets (we'd had fun at the dollar store buying little things to wrap that Abby could open randomly). They were a hit.

Abby is on the left with the orange bracelet. Ruby is wearing a pink one. Kris posted this on Abby's CaringBridge and I took it from there.

Ruby's also been making a drawing or writing a letter or sending a card every single day to Abby in the hospital. This morning I documented what we have been doing - or at least what we did today.

We had picked flowers previously and Kris said that was the first that Abby had smiled while in the hospital - opening the flowers from Ruby. So Ruby wanted to do it again.

Picking flowers