A motto of so many of our HIE families is that hope is in the journey.

For Gabrielle Shimkus, finding that hope has been a process over the last two years since her daughter Harper, the last of five children, suffered HIE at birth.

HIE didn’t stop them from trips to the beach, visiting family miles away and the Jersey shore vacations they had envisioned taking as a family.

And after losing their son Jacob, Dawn Carofine cherishes those memories.

“The memories we made are just another way to keep Jacob’s memory alive. I’m not able to see the ocean without thinking about him. His life was too short, but I know that we had always done our best to make happy memories together,” she said.

By Emily Combs

HIE hasn’t stopped this adventurous family from exploring and enjoying their world together.

Two-year-old Connor May and his parents, Rhea and Johnny, live in the foothills overlooking Denver, Colorado – and they take full advantage of the adventures awaiting them in their own backyard and beyond.

From mountains to music festivals, Connor is already quite a daring little man. Along with laughing and listening to music, being outside and feeling the wind on his face are some of his very favorite things.

After the traumatic birth of her daughter, Brittany Bemourtrusting was terrified to think about going through pregnancy again.

But it was an adventure she had wanted her whole life.

Making the trip from Tanzania to Kenya to visit the village where Wanjiru Muigai-Mnaro grew up was important to her.

The adventure would allow her 1-year-old son Malik to meet his 99-year-old great grandfather and see the village where his mother lived for 11 years, she said.

“It was also a chance for him to enjoy the little things the village has to offer like farm animals, beautiful scenery, playing with his cousins who live in the village and he had loads of fun,” she said.