The Beautiful Chaos of Grief and Grace: Koreen’s Story
This Mother's Day, we find ourselves returning to the words Jessie Buckley gave us at the Oscars — a tribute to “the beautiful chaos of a mother's heart”.
We know this beautiful chaos well. We’ve spent over a decade standing in the rooms where it begins — where love arrives loud, or quiet, or hard-won after unimaginable loss.
This is one of those stories.
This is Koreen’s Story:
Some stories of motherhood don’t begin with a cry, but with silence.
On 24th March, Koreen and Bernard welcomed their miracle twins, Jordan Kolbe and Camille Acutis. A boy and a girl, finally here, after a year that asked everything of them.
With no family history of twins, life now is full — two newborns, very little sleep, and the kind of love that feels both overwhelming and sacred.
But before them, there was James.
Their firstborn, born sleeping at 20 weeks. He made them parents. His life, though brief, reshaped everything — how they love, how they hope, how they unite as family.
“For some motherhood comes easy. For others it’s carved through heartbreak and resilience.”
— Koreen
Jordan and Camille are not the beginning of their story. They are the continuation of it. Their lives are deeply intertwined with their brother’s, who remains part of their family in every way that matters.
Bernard showing the twins his tattoo in memoriam of their brother, James.
“There will never be enough words to describe what the past year has been for us. But it led us here, with two beautiful children earth-side and another cheering us on to live a life worthy of Heaven.”
— Koreen
Koreen’s story sits in that uneasy, luminous space where grief and joy keep brushing against one another, refusing to be separated.
It is a reminder that each child is a miracle but some arrive with a gravity that pulls everything that came before them into sharper focus.
The First Hello moment is often an echo of everything endured to get there.
Koreen and Bernard, thank you for letting us stand close to your story — close enough to feel its weight, its tenderness, its hard-won light. Thank you for trusting us with what is most personal and most precious.
We will not forget the day your miracles entered the world.
To every woman this Mother’s Day — the ones holding newborns, the ones aching to hold a child, the ones holding grief, the ones holding both joy and loss at once — we see you.
We have always seen you.
This is the beautiful chaos of a mother's heart.
And we will never stop showing up to document it.
x
Bel + River
—
Honour the mothers
There are plenty of ways to honour the mother in your life this Mother’s Day. But few are as special as the gift of capturing motherhood itself:
Book her a shoot.
Get it all sorted for her, so she doesn’t have to lift a finger.
Give her a gift certificate.
You choose the amount, she chooses how she uses it.
Pre-order the book.
The ultimate celebration of motherhood — in the most premium linen hardcover format. Her coffee table will LOVE it.