Just Be by Shelly Hay Fernandez
“My goal in life is to bring a little beauty, kindness and love into the world.”
Hello and welcome to my website. My name is Shelly Hay Fernandez and I am an artist and jewelry designer in Houma, Louisiana. Just Be was established in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. I was born in Boise, Idaho, but lived most of my life in Houma, Louisiana. I attended Louisiana Tech University where I studied Architecture, Interior Design, and later Art Education. During my last year of college, while working in an art gallery, I met and studied jewelry design under Patricia Tait Jones, a local Rustin, Louisiana artist.
For the past 24 years, I have been blessed with the opportunity to be an Art Educator. I have taught traditional art and digital art to students Pre-K-12. May 30, 2020 I decided to retire and follow my dream to create. I hope that my passion will bring a small amount of beauty, kindness, and love into your life.
My Family’s Story
In May of 1991 I was on my way to senior trip in Fort Walton, Florida when I met the love of my life. We met in a gazebo on the beach and fell in love. We both decided to go to college in Ruston, Louisiana. Five years later we both graduated in education and got married. For many years we taught together and were known as the “cute, happy teacher couple“. Most people were unaware that we weren’t always happy and were dealing with 15 years of fertility issues. February of 2003 we found out that we were going to have a baby. It was the most exciting and devastating year of our lives. A couple of weeks after we found out that we were going to have a baby, I had a miscarriage. Our dreams of becoming a family of three were torn from us. Even though it was the most heartbreaking event in our lives, it brought my husband and I closer together. We prayed that we would be blessed with a child every hour of every day.
Then, an average day turned into a day that would be forever in our minds and hearts. I was going on my weekly trip to Hobby Lobby with my oldest friend Christy, when she mentioned something about a young girl that was pregnant and looking for someone to adopt her daughter. There was a couple that was thinking about it, but they weren’t sure if they were ready. I frantically blurted out, “What about us? I want her!" This is where our tragedy of losing a child turned into our miracle. On New Year’s Eve of 2009, on our way to celebrate at my friend Adrianna’s camp, we found out that we were going to meet with her birth mother! It was a scary and exciting time, but we knew that God was with us through everything. In about a month and a half later, we received a call to come to the hospital because our daughter was about to be born. What an AMAZING day! Many of our family members were there waiting with us in a private room at the hospital. There was SO MUCH LOVE in that room! I still remember the emotions of excitement and nervousness. Was she going to be healthy? Was her birth mother really going to be able to let her go after seeing her angel face? Would the birth father try to take her out of anger? We finally got word that the hospital was going to let us go into a private room to meet our little miracle.
My husband and I waited what felt like a million hours until finally a nurse with this beautiful angel in her arms walked in. Our nervousness immediately was overcome with LOVE. As much as my husband and I were in love, this was a love that we had never experienced. How could we love this little human so quickly and unconditionally? As the years went by, this amazing love grew more and more each day. My family is my inspiration! They are my reason for living! I thank God for blessing me with amazing people in my life and I hope that one day you can experience this type of love.
Sending many blessings and good vibes your way.
Love,
Shelly Hay Fernandez