Thanks to Alexandra’s House, no family need grieve alone

Kansas City Star: Thanks to Alexandra's House, no family need grieve alone

I found this article today, and even though it is four months old, I wanted to highlight the work Alexandra's House does. I haven't heard of anything like it; it is in my neighborhood.

The founder, who once shunned sick babies, discovered her calling after a niece died.

Patti Lewis knows the pain and loneliness of grieving for an infant.

She lived through it with her niece, Alexandra.

Alex was born Dec. 12, 1994, with a rare genetic condition that ended her life after 45 days.

Forty-five days and nights that changed Lewis’ life.

Lewis and her family were afraid to sleep during Alex’s short life. They worried that Alex might die in the night, alone.

And alone is how the family felt.

Isolated, angry, scared. All the emotions that a dying baby brings, but without anyone who seemed to understand.

Lewis watched as Alex struggled to breathe. For hours she rocked Alex in her arms late at night, weeping because “I couldn’t buy her anything, or feed her anything. … All I could do was love her.”

Lewis identified a hole in medical and social service support for families with terminally ill babies.

She knew before Alex died that she wanted to do something more with her life. She knew that her family would have found comfort had they met someone who had lived through such an experience, someone who could have listened or just shared stories about other families that had endured the same loss.

More than anything, she knows that it is families who give meaning to these babies’ short lives.

“(This work) was definitely a calling,” she says. …

At the time of this article, the Star did a couple of stories about people who were ministered to by Alexandra's House. I'd encourage you to visit the story Zeke's Gift and view the "Audio Photo Gallery" link in the box. It is one of the most powerful recountings of God's love and grace at work in the world I have seen. (But be warned, the presentation contains a picture of Zeke's lifeless body, and you will want to have tissues at hand.)