We are Heart and Sole - Meet Team Polly

We are Heart and Sole - Meet Team Polly

Written by Dana Owings Moore Friday, March 16 2012

A sister, a part of Team Polly and forever a part of the Heart and Sole family.

I am Dana Owings Moore (Polly's Aunt and Hayley's sister) and this is what Heart and Sole means to me.

I am Hayley Dawson's sister and wanted to share with you how honored we were to be a part of the Heart & Sole weekend in Augusta. The walk was so special and Hayley and Whit said the evening celebration was wonderful. It really touched me to see how you have been able to turn a tragic event in your family into something so positive. I know you understand all too well that no one can stand in the gap for another quite like a sister can. 

I have loved reading the posts on the website and facebook about what Heart & Sole means to so many. So I wanted to quickly share what it has meant to our family. On November 11, the day my niece Polly became an angel, Dr. Hatley told Hayley and Whit about Ben and Carrie and about the Heart & Sole organization. He gave Hayley their contact information and encouraged her to reach out to them. A week later at Polly's funeral, Hillary Stringfellow (who my sister, Adrienne, and I knew from UGA and Hayley had met down in St. Simons) came up to Adrienne and me and started talking about her good friend Carrie who had also lost a little girl and how she wanted Hayey to meet her - as we talked, Adrienne and I started to realize this was the same family that Dr. Hatley told Hayley and Whit about. It seemed it was definitely God's plan for them to meet.

Over the next few months, Hayley and Whit began to put energy into forming Team Polly by asking friends and family for donations and having t-shirts made so that we could be a part of Heart & Sole and help raise money for the CMC - a place that came to be very special to Hayley and Whit as this is where Polly spent 31 of her 32 days here on this Earth and the relationships they made with the amazing doctors and nurses that cared for her are ones they will treasure forever. This past weekend was the first time any of us had been back to the hospital since Polly passed away. For me, it was very bittersweet. I felt a lot of emotions but mostly I felt grateful - grateful for the hospital and it's staff that worked so hard to try to cure Polly, grateful that we were given the gift of her - even if for only 32 days, and grateful that we could be a part of such a worthy cause in her honor. Team Polly will continue to give her short life validation and continue to remind us that she served a mighty purpose.

I think meeting Ben and Carrie and seeing how God has continued to bless their lives gave Hayley and Whit a lot of hope for a future that seems uncertain to them right now. I am positive our paths crossed for a reason.  Stacey, I just wanted to thank you for reaching out to Hayley and Whit. I think about something Ben wrote about Bowen on the website all the time - that they knew she (Bowen) would change their lives - they just didn't know it would be in this way...perfectly said.

Take care and I look forward to seeing you next year in Augusta!