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Sonji Lucy

@sonjisgraphics

5 months ago
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Posted On: June 13th 2026, 12:56 am

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Not a story I ever thought I would share, yet grief is a story that touches every one of us. ❤️‍🩹 Saturday morning, our little girl Leila went to be with Jesus at just 23 weeks. At 20 weeks our baby was diagnosed with hydrops and we were told she wouldn’t make it and were advised to start looking for an abortion clinic. At first, everything went dark for me. I had only started feeling her kicks a few weeks earlier. Everything had finally begun to feel real. And now this? My immediate instinct was to stop myself from bonding with her, afraid it would only make saying goodbye more painful. I even considered buying looser clothing so I wouldn’t have to look in the mirror and be reminded of what we’d learned in that emergency room. But then, somehow, I stumbled upon another woman’s story that completely changed my mindset and, ultimately, my experience. I decided to lean in instead of pulling away. To call Leila by name. To talk about her daily. To share her story with a few close friends so that, if she didn’t make it, there would be people who remembered her. To stay present. To not lose myself. To continue getting ready for the day, even when getting out of bed felt like the last thing I wanted to do. We decided to seek a second opinion. I flew back to Texas for further testing and we were fortunate to have two more weeks with our Leila before she passed away in my womb. At 23 weeks, I delivered our little girl. We got to hold her and say goodbye in the most dignified way possible. Both my husband and Leo were in the hospital room while I labored, and I even got to catch Leila myself. Surreal. And somehow, we walked away holding on to the most positive birth experience we could have had, because we made difficult choices along the way that didn’t always make sense. We chose to hold on to God’s promises of being with us, even when we felt completely alone. We chose to hope for a miracle, even though we didn’t receive the one we prayed for. We could have been swallowed by darkness and despair. Instead, we were met with God’s unexplainable peace while navigating heartbreak. Part 2 in comments. #TurnerSyndrome #HydropsFetalis #CysticHygroma
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HISTORY MADE ✊🇮🇹
Virginia Deaver (@virginia.deaver) grew up in southern Appalachia and now paints in Los Angeles. She studied classics, political science, ethics, and philosophy before turning to the canvas, and those moral questions still drive her work. Her figures are caught in suspended moments, just before impact or revelation, when something is about to break or change. She draws on performance and literature, and her paintings move between gesture and abstraction. The scenes carry a magical realism, along with disaster, tenderness, and longing.
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