Sandy "Sam" Puc'
04-18-2007, 01:40 PM
I hope that Fonzie will not mind that I posted this, it is such a thoughful e-mail I wanted to share it will everyone.
Fonzie Munoz and his wife, Tonya, have one girl, one boy and one angel. They didn't plan it that way. Their oldest daughter, Marina, 6, was supposed to be a big sister long before baby Matthew came along.
But God had other plans for Makayla Lee, Marina often explains.
She wanted to hold her, feed her, watch over her like a big sister should. She looked forward to that day. Instead, her little sister watches over them all.
Tonya was about seven months pregnant when they got the news. Doctors couldn't find a heartbeat. The umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. Makayla was gone.
Tonya still endured the pains of labor. She got to see Makayla's sweet face. But instead of the baby they all had wished for, they took home a great void and a disk of pictures taken by a nurse - Makayla's first and last.
Matthew was born about a year ago. Fonzie and Tonya jumped at every hiccup or stomachache. They couldn't shake the fear that something could go wrong. The couple chose for Tonya to have a Caesarean section about a month early just to be on the safe side. Matthew, despite their worries, was fine. Their family is together, though not complete. At least not in the traditional sense of the word.
Sometimes it's hard for Fonzie to explain, so when people ask how his children are doing, he speaks only of Marina and Matthew.
It's always Marina who reminds him.
"No, Daddy. You have three kids. You can't forget Makayla," she says. "She's an angel."
But he could never forget.
It seemed a little odd at first, even for a photographer like Fonzie, to have those pictures - Makayla in a doll-like dress of pink and white, her small hands clenched in tight fists - stored on his hard drive.
It took him months to look at them, but the more he did the more at peace he felt.
Makayla was real and a part of him.
For years Fonzie has worked to perfect his craft. Weddings. Family pictures. Babies' first portraits. Always in the back of his mind were Makayla's pictures.
During a photography conference about a year ago, a black-and-white brochure caught his eye. It was for a nationwide volunteer program called Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep in which photographers donate their time to take baby portraits for families who have lost a child.
Two months ago, Fonzie signed on to become one of three photographers in the Corpus Christi area to serve as a volunteer photographer for the organization.
He hasn't taken his first portrait yet. His voice cracks a little when he talks about it. Not because he's not capable or he fears his work won't be good enough.
But because he knows what those pictures can mean. And the peace they can bring.
Fonzie Munoz and his wife, Tonya, have one girl, one boy and one angel. They didn't plan it that way. Their oldest daughter, Marina, 6, was supposed to be a big sister long before baby Matthew came along.
But God had other plans for Makayla Lee, Marina often explains.
She wanted to hold her, feed her, watch over her like a big sister should. She looked forward to that day. Instead, her little sister watches over them all.
Tonya was about seven months pregnant when they got the news. Doctors couldn't find a heartbeat. The umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. Makayla was gone.
Tonya still endured the pains of labor. She got to see Makayla's sweet face. But instead of the baby they all had wished for, they took home a great void and a disk of pictures taken by a nurse - Makayla's first and last.
Matthew was born about a year ago. Fonzie and Tonya jumped at every hiccup or stomachache. They couldn't shake the fear that something could go wrong. The couple chose for Tonya to have a Caesarean section about a month early just to be on the safe side. Matthew, despite their worries, was fine. Their family is together, though not complete. At least not in the traditional sense of the word.
Sometimes it's hard for Fonzie to explain, so when people ask how his children are doing, he speaks only of Marina and Matthew.
It's always Marina who reminds him.
"No, Daddy. You have three kids. You can't forget Makayla," she says. "She's an angel."
But he could never forget.
It seemed a little odd at first, even for a photographer like Fonzie, to have those pictures - Makayla in a doll-like dress of pink and white, her small hands clenched in tight fists - stored on his hard drive.
It took him months to look at them, but the more he did the more at peace he felt.
Makayla was real and a part of him.
For years Fonzie has worked to perfect his craft. Weddings. Family pictures. Babies' first portraits. Always in the back of his mind were Makayla's pictures.
During a photography conference about a year ago, a black-and-white brochure caught his eye. It was for a nationwide volunteer program called Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep in which photographers donate their time to take baby portraits for families who have lost a child.
Two months ago, Fonzie signed on to become one of three photographers in the Corpus Christi area to serve as a volunteer photographer for the organization.
He hasn't taken his first portrait yet. His voice cracks a little when he talks about it. Not because he's not capable or he fears his work won't be good enough.
But because he knows what those pictures can mean. And the peace they can bring.