Kathleen and Shawn Burns

Katie (Kathleen) Burns and I worked together side- by-side for 12 years at Procter & Gamble. To say that she was an angel sent from on high would be an understatement. Katie has been a constant source of spiritual guidance for me in my life ever since our paths came together. She reminds me that there is a God and a Spirit of the Universe far greater than us who showers us with love. Katie was also responsible for many parts of Portraits in Faith—both for the travel plans that enabled it, and choosing the “selects” for each person’s portrait.

I admire so deeply how Katie had the courage and the clarity to give birth to her son Shawn when she was only 16 and to raise him into the loving young man he is today. Katie had to listen deep within herself and go against the advice many others were giving her to get an abortion or give Shawn up for adoption. I remember the first time I met Katie as she showed me a picture of her and her dad standing back to back when she was pregnant and his belly was almost bigger than hers—she shared that he ‘had her back’ when she got pregnant.

Katie shared with me that she is certain she would have died from drugs or alcohol had she not had Shawn. Many friends of hers suffered that fate and it was only Shawn’s birth that caused Katie to take a different direction in life. That is why she says, “choosing life saved mine.”

The portrait of Katie and Shawn means so much to me—how similar they look despite Katie being white and Shawn being multiracial, how their holding each other’s hands symbolizes unity and eternal connectedness, how their eyes signal the loving kindness for others they both possess.

Katie and I often talk about our “Africa moments” which is when we want to chuck everything and move to Africa to do relief work. And yet, what I have learned from Katie is that “Africa” is wherever we are and wherever help is needed. I’ve never met someone so sensitive to the needs of others as Katie, especially the hungry and unsheltered. I trust her instincts so much that she is one of four members of the board of directors of the new Portraits in Faith Foundation.

I went back to interview both Katie and Shawn on video some 10 years after their portrait was taken, when Shawn was a sophomore at Ohio State University. And now he just earned his doctorate in physical therapy from Ohio University. I thank God for Katie Burns and the love and healing she and her son Shawn brought into my life.