Bereaved Parents
Love Bears All Things
By: Kayla Leibner The journey of a bereaved parent is full of misconceptions, false impressions, and understatements. It’s uncomfortable and unthinkable. There’s no possible way to help someone to understand unless they, too, are walking in our shoes. At some point, we were all on the misunderstanding end of this scenario. I know I once…
Read MoreWhat Now?
Life after loss. You are not alone.
Read MoreThe Deep Roots of Legacy
By: Ann-Marie Ferry “Tough it out.” “Don’t cry.” Don’t be a girl.” We have been told for years that to show pain, or to speak of it, is weakness. We are the children of stoicism. The American roots run deep into this ancient philosophy. At the heart we know something is wrong with it but…
Read MoreMissing More Than Milestones
By: Kayla Leibner I often find myself wondering what life would be like if I wasn’t a bereaved mother. I wonder how different I would be if I wasn’t on this path. The truth is, this is my reality, and I’ll never again know life the way it was before this journey of grief began. …
Read MoreMilestones
By: Rebecca Stockwell A close friend had a baby a few weeks before my son was born. We live a few hours from each other, so I wasn’t around for most of her milestones. When she was seven months old, we were invited to her baptism and to spend the night at her house. We don’t…
Read MoreThe Little Yellow Butterfly
By: Casey Zenner One of the greatest things about being a parent is watching the bond your children have grow over the years. When you have one child in Heaven the fear of missing out on witnessing that bond for me, at least, has been one of the toughest parts of this journey. Not only…
Read MoreSeasons of Love
By: Nikki Grayson The deep green and blue ocean waters rise and fall before me. The deep blue horizon looks to be a million miles away. Sand wedges between my toes and the warmth of the air envelopes me. As I search for hidden sand dollars, my eyes are set on the tan sandy beach,…
Read MoreLonging for the Hyphen
My son’s short life reminds me to use my hyphen well, to live life to the fullest.
Read MoreSailing
By: Ann-Marie Ferry Twenty-five feet of crystal-clear water rolled between the pier where I stood and the smooth, colorful boulders on the lake floor. I was enchanted by this simmering window into aquatic life, mesmerized, in my own world. “Ann-Marie, the line is moving,” a voice called out. My parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents,…
Read MoreAn Artistic Walk Through Grief
By: Ann-Marie Ferry The suddenness of grief is disorienting. It leaves us grappling for a way, a path to walk. We as bereaved parents had no choice. Grief came and we did our best. We kept waking up. We kept on. Our paths all look a little different, but the emotions often feel so familiar.…
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