Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/759603
t m c » p u l s e | d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 6 28 In less than an hour, she sewed gathering stitches along the top of the swatch to create a waist. Then she set to work on the bodice, carefully preserv- ing the knotted chiffon in the front. Soon she was cupping a strip of lace in her hands and molding it into a tiny puff sleeve. As her sewing machine hummed, a doe-eyed black-and-white cocker span- iel lay under her feet. "I'm allergic," Bingham said between sniffles. "But we'll keep her until we can find a suitable home. She's a good dog." Bingham motioned for me to join her at the sewing table so she could show me what was left of the back of my dress. The zipper part, she said, would be perfect for a little bag. She likes to make these for the mothers so they have something tangible to take home, something that could hold a few photographs and sonograms. "Have you heard of rainbow babies?" Bingham asked. "I didn't know about it until I started doing Angel Gowns, but it's after you've suffered a loss and then you are able to have a successful pregnancy. I'm actu- ally a rainbow baby myself—my sister and I are." Bingham explained that her moth- er's first baby passed away, and her parents had only planned to have two children. "So had that first baby lived, I wouldn't have been here," she said. "Of course, I might have been here. Who knows …" In a sense, life itself could be consid- ered a series of deaths. Relationships break up, friendships wane, moments become memories. We often find our- selves at the ends of chapters and mile- stones. People we love die. But there are rainbows after storms and people like Dionne and Bingham, who remind us that even in the midst of tragedy, there is love in this world. 'Yes, I had this baby' On Nov. 2, Bingham and Rivaux entered the labor and delivery unit at Harris Health System's Ben Taub Hospital with what became of my dress in hand. In the end, it provided enough material for two gowns, each with a matching bonnet and keepsake bag. Top right: A tiny wrap sewn for babies born too small for gowns. Bottom: Lindy Bingham, a seamstress who volunteers with Angel Gowns by Diane, holds up one of the garments she created from Alexandra Becker's donated wedding dress.