ALABAMA (WIAT) – A message of love traveled hundreds of miles to land in Alabama. Lavinia Whatley had noticed something shiny blowing across the pond in her backyard in Dunnavant all day on Wednesday. At first, she didn’t think much of it. She took out her binoculars and tried to zoom in on it, but still couldn’t really tell much about the object.
However, as the day wore on, she had to find out. Whatley waded out into the water, balancing on a log, to snag it from the pond. As her handle clasped around the scratchy material, she was immediately moved to tears. The object was a silver balloon with messages of love scrawled across it in sharpie.
“My heart just went out,” she recalled through tears. “I said, this is somebody’s little boy. Cooper. I did not know where it came from–did not know how old the child was, but being a mother and grandmother…I thought, this is just precious. So I brought it back and I spread it outside to try and let it dry.”
Whatley was desperate to read more about the little boy, Cooper, whose name was encased in a Superman symbol on the balloon. Days later, she would bring the balloon over to her best friend, Pat’s home. “Of course, she and I both started crying and we were talking about how precious the messages were on the balloon…from the parents and from the nurse.”Whatley still wasn’t sure what happened to Cooper or where the balloon had floated in from–so she enlisted the help of Pat’s daughter-in-law, Stephany Henson. Henson took a photo of the balloon and posted it on Facebook, asking if anyone in the area knew Cooper or his family.
Whatley still wasn’t sure what happened to Cooper or where the balloon had floated in from–so she enlisted the help of Pat’s daughter-in-law, Stephany Henson. Henson took a photo of the balloon and posted it on Facebook, asking if anyone in the area knew Cooper or his family.
That same night, Henson was guided to a page out of South Carolina for Cooper Finley. She knew she had found the right person.
“They had the same logo as the one on the balloon,” Henson said. “The C with the Superman sign. I knew…and it was haunting.”
Henson spent the entire night looking at Cooper’s page. It documented his journey in pictures, videos, and loving words from friends and family. He had been born with a congenital heart defect–Hypoplastic left heart syndome, which basically means that the left side of the heart did not form correctly during pregnancy.Henson also came across a balloon release for Cooper after his death in February. He was only two months old, and he never left the hospital.
Henson also came across a balloon release for Cooper after his death in February. He was only two months old, and he never left the hospital.”I’m just glad that maybe God chose me to give it to them,” Whatley said, “because it could have sunk into the water, or someone could just pick it up and throw it away.
“I’m just glad that maybe God chose me to give it to them,” Whatley said, “because it could have sunk into the water, or someone could just pick it up and throw it away not think anything about it.”
The three women–Lavinia, Stephany, and Pat, decided that they would return the special balloon to Cooper’s family. They are all mothers–and Pat and Lavinia are both grandmothers. Finding the balloon touched something deep inside of each of them. They reached out to Cooper’s mother and grandmother online–and quickly heard back.
“She [Cooper’s mother] felt like us finding the balloon and finding their page was an answer to their prayers. That Cooper had heard them,” said Henson.
However, Henson did not want to simply send back a box with the balloon. She, Lavinia, and Pat wanted to fill the box with love and encouragement. They are currently asking that people send cards or drawings to them to be included in the package that they will send back to Cooper’s family.
“So that when they open that box, it’s not just a sorrowful reminder of what they felt the day they released this balloon,” Henson said, “but also the feeling of love and being surrounded.”
