July 28, 2009

A BEAUTIFUL "SEWL"



See this little guy? His name is Deyton Kash Sorensen.


He is the nephew of my friend Shelle over at Blokthoughts.

Here he is with his proud papa minutes after he was born.

These are his courageous parents.


Deyton had a heart condition called Hypo Plastic Left Heart syndrome. In his 5 days on earth he touched a lot of people including myself.

Sunday, the 26th of July, Deyton Kash Sorensen passed away peacefully in his parents' arms at home. He left a remarkable impact on a lot of lives. Never has anyone so beautiful reached the hearts of so many people so fast.

The pain I felt for his family was immense. I wanted to help but didn't know how so I made this for his parents.

It is a "sweetheart tree". His initials carved forever in his tree.

There is a lot of symbolism in this painting.
The tree represents life, and it is not rooted here on earth, but in the Heavens.
The exposed roots represent his strong family that he is eternally tied to. His initials will be etched forever for all to remember and of course the heart has such meaning.

His heart may have failed him in this life but the thousands of hearts he has touched, will forever be changed.

This song is what kept playing in my mind as I painted this.

Keep them all in your prayers would ya?

The painting is on it's way and hopefully will bring a little bit of peace to his parents.

It did for me.

xo Emily xo

26 comments:

The Dennis Wright Family said...

Shelle just showed me your beautiful picture! I am Shelle's Mom and the Grandmother to DEYTON KASH SORNENSEN. It is just so wonderful that you would or could be so talented to be able to paint something so beautiful that exresses so much meaning. It means so much to us and is appreciated greatly! He has touched his family's hearts and souls! Thank you again!

Emily Anne Leyland said...

I am so glad I could do it. It has been a blessing to know him from a far. You are more than welcome and it has touched me so greatly how your family has handled such a trial. What an inspiration you all are.
Know our prayers are with all of you!!

Shelle-BlokThoughts said...

Oh Emily... it took me a minute to comment because your painting was so incredible and invoked such an emotional response in me...

I am so deeply touched by this painting and SO thankful. It does bring peace and his parents are going to be SO thankful that you used your incredible talent for this hard yet honored time in their lives.

I hope you don't mind if I put it on my blog... I NEED and would love to share it.

Thank you. I will never forget this or you now for the rest of my life.

Emily Anne Leyland said...

Shelle, seriously, I am sooo happy to have done it. Like I said in my email, it helped me. I felt I HAD to make this for y'all. I'll be thinking of you guys tomorrow.
Much love and hugs!!

Em

Emily Anne Leyland said...

Oh and of course you can share it on your blog. I am honored :)

rummage family said...

I had the privilege of seeing this painting in person....amazing, AND you could tell the love that went into painting it! You are one in a million Em! So grateful you're my friend!

Alyson | New England Living said...

This is so beautiful and touching, Emily. You are talented and obviously very compassionate. I love it.

Emily Anne Leyland said...

Thank you my sweet friends. You are so sweet. I feel so blessed I could!

Kristina P. said...

Oh, Emily, this made me cry! This is so beautiful. They will treasure it forever.

Anonymous said...

Thats is excellent. absolutely amazing, well thought and perfectly done.

Sandi said...

Very sweet!

Kiran said...

This post took a very unexpected turn for me. At first, how beautiful a new baby and his parents. Then, I read further, I was so sad to read about his condition. His parents are obviously VERY special people. I love the song it brings such comfort. Thank you for a loving and delicate post.

Unknown said...

M Your An Amazing Person

Southern Gal said...

Beautiful picture for a beautiful soul and family. What a wonderful way to honor and remember that sweet baby boy.

Lisa said...

Such a beautiful thing to do for them. I was oohing and ahhing at the sweet babies and parents and then to learn that he passed away was so sad. I know they will treasure what you've created for them so much.

I cannot even imagine that sort of loss. And truthfully, I hope I never can.

* said...

beautiful art, love that song. You are blessed to be an instrument in the Lord's hands to create such art, a memorial, for his parents. (((hugs))) to them and you.

Darci said...

What a touching and emotionally charged message. My heart aches for their loss, but what a blessing to have your painting as a special reminder of their son. You too bless others each day.

Nutty Hamster Chick said...

Thank you for doing something that they rest of us all wished we could think of but didn't. You truly do have a gift and I am so happy you were willing to share with those in pain.

dougboyle said...

I continue to be in awe of your creative and caring abilities. That is inspiring and heartening at the same time.

Well done, my daughter.

Love Dad

The Crash Test Dummy said...

Oh my goodness! That is so beautiful. You are amazingly kind.

WOW! That's all I can say.

I've been away for a bit so I missed the whole thing.

Sniff! Soooooo sad.

Unknown said...

That is beautiful and amazing of you to paint that for them. I'm sure it will bring them a small bit of peace in this sad time.

Heather said...

Oh, that is so terribly sad....it is so hard to be helpless when it comes to your little one...I hope that his family makes it through this stronger and closer and better people for knowing him. What a beautiful boy~

April said...

What a beautiful gift! You are so awesome!

Malea said...

I am a visitor from Shelle's blog. I grew up in the same ward as the Wrights. They are a passionate and loving family. The fact that you did this for them means more than you know. The work is beautiful. You are amazing.

Sandra Evertson said...

There are no words...your painting is most wonderful.
Sandra Evertson

The Haley Family said...

You are amazing! What an amazing story!