Taysha and Logan Pietzyk are a compassionate, caring couple who are still mourning the loss of their beautiful baby girl, their child who was born during this month two short years ago. In some ways, it seems a lifetime ago, that heart-wrenching and terrifying experience. In other ways, it’s still so fresh, and they’re thankful for Laura and Zach Bennett, who shared in their journey and helped them navigate. It was also the Bennetts who nominated the Pietzyks for a Magic Moment, feeling they needed some extra holiday joy, and Lindsey Harms echoed the sentiment.

The love of a child

Taysha and Logan welcomed their beautiful baby girl Willow Mae into the world in December 2020. She was absolutely perfect, and they couldn’t have loved her more. Taysha and Logan, who already had a beautiful life together, marveled at the incredible power of a child’s love and spent months basking in every snuggle, every coo, every sweet sigh. But when Willow was four months old, she began choking on her bottle. Soon, she was losing weight at an alarming rate, weakening to the point that she was even unable to hold up her little head. A battery of tests offered no answers. The un-diagnosis seemed to be that she was “just fading away,” which was cold comfort for Taysha and Logan, whose sweet baby girl was now on a feeding tube. Alone and desperate, they prayed for guidance, which came in the form of the Bennett family.

Laura and Zach had lost their precious baby daughter Sam to a genetic disease, and they felt Taysha and Logan’s pain — literally. They were able to direct the Pietzyks to Children’s First Pediatrics in Lincoln, where Dr. Applegate began testing that provided answers in the form of a diagnosis for Willow Mae, who passed away at eight months of Krabbe disease, a rare, inherited metabolic disorder. Willow’s parents were beyond broken — and thankful for the empathetic support of a couple who had also lived the pain of losing a child, who know how the threat of a genetic disease affects building a family in the future, and who understand how the child you lost remains forever imprinted on your heart. The two families share a forever bond of having to let their little girls go.

Trying to live life

Logan and Taysha have just been trying to live life, though it’s different after what they’ve been through. They love traveling to Colorado and skiing when time allows, and Logan enjoys getting out on the golf course when he can. He’s an electrician by trade and likes to work with his hands; creating is kind of a specialty. Taysha loves reading, sweet treats, and coffee. She works at Lincoln Christian School, and seeing kiddos’ smiles — including some she cared for when she was a nanny — is healing to her.

Meals out as a couple are a special treat, though they’ve been curtailing those so they can purchase a home soon, where they intend to plant a tree in the yard in memory of Willow. UBT didn’t want Logan and Taysha to have to wait for a yard, so we arranged for a memorial brick at Sunken Gardens to honor baby Willow, along with one to honor little Sam Bennett, Zach and Laura’s daughter, with our healing wishes to both families.

With the help of our amazing partners and the Magic Moments team, we also have some special things planned for Logan and Taysha in the way of a fun night out, new golf and athletic wear, and some much-needed pampering for Taysha. Speaking of special, our team also added a new camera and a car seat to the assortment of gifts — because we just learned that this amazing couple is expecting!

We’re wishing the Pietzyk family joy, hope, continued healing, and a hearty congratulations this Christmas. Happy holidays, Pietzyk family!