Holiday Grief
Still a Mother’s Day: Honoring Motherhood During the Pandemic
By: Keisha Wells Thirteen years ago, I faced my first Mother’s Day without my sons—just 29 days after they took their first and last breaths. Although a bitter-sweet celebration, I was gently supported by family and received thoughtful gifts and love on this premiere day in my motherhood. The first of so many days I…
Read MoreA Letter to the Newly Bereaved Mom on Mother’s Day
By: Kayla Leibner Dear Mom, I know you’re not the kind of mother you imagined you would be, but that doesn’t make you any less of a mother. In fact, you are the strongest kind of mother. Your baby lives in heaven instead of in your home. You hold your baby in your heart instead…
Read MoreMothering Each Day
By: Robyn Busekrus The birds are singing and the sun is shining. When I turn the calendar to May, it brings sadness. I say to myself, “Here we go again.” This month, we honor mothers and for those of us who have been on this loss journey it is difficult. This May, my son would…
Read MoreChoosing Sunshine This Mother’s Day
By: Nikki Grayson Hello there, Beautiful Momma, I write this to you as I’m sitting in the warm sunshine, blue skies, and bright green grass. Flowers are starting to bloom, and the leaves are starting to bud. It’s that time of the year again; Spring. A season that brings many showers of rain, but also…
Read MoreBeing Childless On Mother’s Day
By: Amy Lied My first Mother’s Day without Asher was only 3 months after he died. That day was soul-crushing, to say the least. I was a mother but the child who gave me that title, wasn’t here to celebrate with me. Throughout the day, I tried to avoid social media, but when deep in…
Read MoreA Bereaved Mom is a Real Mom
By: Paige Sanderson Breakfast in bed, a card signed “Love, Mike and Holden,” and a picture of flowers created by Holden’s perfect little handprints. That’s what I was hoping my first Mother’s Day would be like. After all, it’s what I’ve been waiting for my whole life. A mom’s first Mother’s Day is supposed to…
Read MoreMy Christmas Baby
By: Amanda Glazebrook Our story starts the same way that so many do: my husband and I dreamed of having a baby. Technically, we had a baby at home, but she’d grown into a toddler, bright and clever and so beloved that it seemed impossible to resist the lure of having another, although we’d said…
Read MoreThe Most Wonderful (and Grief-Filled) Time of the Year
By: Amy Lied I think it’s safe to say that the Christmas season is a favorite among a large number of people. Christmas music is playing the day after Halloween. Social media is flooded with decorated trees only a few days after that. Songs proclaim that it’s the “most wonderful time of the year”. But…
Read MoreWhen You Don’t Feel Like Celebrating
By: Lindsey Wimmer It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! Or so the songs tell us. The holiday season gives us opportunities to see friends and family, attend parties, exchange gifts of love, be thankful, celebrate our faith, or many other special activities. Unless you’re grieving the death of your baby. Then it can…
Read MoreTo The Mom Learning to Parent After Loss
By: Kelley O. You should be enjoying life as a new parent but you can’t. You feel guilty about being happy since you’ve lost so much in the past. The joy you feel about your new baby is in competition with the sadness brought about your past losses. As if being happy about a new…
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