Most of you know my story at this point, and that about a year ago I opened Mau Loa Photography. But for those who are newer, I wanted to share how it came to be, because I typically don’t share all the why’s and how’s on my professional blog unless asked; not just because of the deep personal nature, but because there is just so much to tell. However, so many Mau Loa fans have shown so much support, and love, I want to share a bit with you that will hopefully help give you a glimpse into the deeper side of why I do what I do, and how much Mau Loa means to me.
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Tito Rodriguez III |
Over 3 and a half years ago, our first son, Baby Tito passed away at the age of 2 and a half. With God’s grace, lots of love, prayer and support, we pushed through that time. In the process, I started this personal blog called, My Mau Loa (to understand a little more of my story, catch my first post here: https://mymauloa.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/a-piece-of-my-journey/. The blog for me was more therapeutic, and then in turn, for the few whom I shared it with, it actually spoke to them on many different levels, as I recounted my various struggles and thoughts on how I overcame (and still work through) the various losses, and the grief that is still present in my life. It was amazing to receive calls, notes, and messages on how the words touched and helped them, and they asked if they could share.
X-Linked Agammaglobulinemia (XLA). For those not in the mood to google ;-), it’s an Immune deficiency, where his body does not produce B lymphocytes/antibodies. (I do however encourage you to read more on this here, as this was not something carried in my family or that we were even aware of! Click here: http://www.immunedisease.com/about-pi/types-of-pi/x-linked-agammaglobulinemia-xla.html)
From the point of his diagnosis, Alijah began receiving IV immunoglobulin infusion treatments monthly, and thankfully those treatments allow him to lead a regular and normal life with no restrictions. It took a while for us to adjust to this news, it brought a lot of emotions, fears, and doubts as you can imagine, but our God is good, and He continues to help us as we learn more and go through this trial.
Yes our family has been through a lot, but as a result we have grown in our Faith, in our marriage, and our family as a whole has been unified. ‘My Mau Loa’ translates to ‘My Always & Forever’. Why Hawaiian?..Because it is a location that has always been on my heart to travel to, a dream if you will, that will be realized in His timing, just as my rejoining with my son and family in Heaven, when He calls us home. In the meantime, his memory, his cute smile, his sparkling eyes, his adorably kissable dimples, his flintstone feet (lol), his daddy-like hands and so forth…live on through the thousands (and I truly mean thousands of photographs) I took from the moment he was conceived, until the moment he went home with our Father.
So it was only fitting that the dream God put on my heart a year and a half ago would become realized as Mau Loa Photography. A gift He gave me, and one that I could use to give back photographic memories for other families to treasure ‘Forever’.
XoXo
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Thanks for your continued support!
My Mau Loa | & Always 