A Legacy of Life

Photograph by Katy Tartakoff

It’s 5-year-old Karmen’s dream to be a ballerina. But Karmen, who lives in Denver, was born with the AIDS virus and has spent much of her short life going in and out of the hospital.

Karmen has fared better than anyone had dared to hope. Doctors thought she would never walk or talk, but she gets around with a walker and speaks fairly well.

Karmen’s hopes, dreams, and struggles are being documented with the help of a Denver organization called the Children’s Legacy. Founded by the photographer Katy Tartakoff, the charity helps seriously ill children and their families write their own stories by providing books that guide them along — My Stupid Illness, for sick children, and Let Me Show You My World, for their siblings and parents. The books contain suggestions of pictures to draw or things to write. For example, one page says, “I am happy when …” Ms. Tartakoff helps illustrate the books by taking black- and-white archival photographs of the children.

For those children who die, the books help their families cope. For those who survive, the books help them heal emotionally.

Karmen may not grow up to be a ballerina, but, despite her difficulty walking, she was transformed when she donned a tutu that her mother had bought her, says Ms. Tartakoff. “She really took on the persona of a ballerina,” she says.

This picture of Karmen is one of a collection of Ms. Tartakoff’s photographs that the charity has published in a book called An Alphabet About Families Living With HIV-AIDS, which includes poetry written by the group’s director of education and communications, Rebecca Sophia Lee. According to the book, “Sometimes Karmen lays her head on her folded hands because she is tired, and sometimes she needs to talk with God.” One of her prayers: “Dear God, Please make my legs and body strong. Please let me grow up.”