The Care and Compassion of a Chaplain

By: Ann-Marie Ferry I am not sure where the thought originated from, but it popped out of my mouth and found its way into the hospital air, “Should we baptize him?” I asked.  Jon and I did not entertain the thought for long. After all, neither of us believed in Infant Baptism. Why would we…

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Helping Others Through My Grief

By: Christine Ford Losing my son to Trisomy 18 on May 5, 2018 has completely changed my life. My outlook on life has changed and how I connect with and view others has changed. I have much more empathy towards others who have miscarried, had a stillbirth, or have lost an infant, baby, or young…

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When Our Heart’s Hurt: Unveiling The Face Of Grief

By: Ann-Marie Ferry A few years back my husband and I decided to take the dull winter months of the Midwest to read to each other in the evenings. I am a lifelong fan of C.S. Lewis. The Chronicles of Narnia, Mere Christianity, and The Screwtape Letters are among my favorites. My husband, Jon, is…

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The Emotions You Experience During Your Grief

By: Shawanna Allen Numbness, Confusion, Anger, Pain, Shame, Emptiness, and Sadness In no particular order are the aforementioned all the emotions I experienced on August 8th when I, in my heart knew and then affirmed by the emergency room doctor that I was indefinitely having a miscarriage. Prior to this day I had been back…

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When Hello Means Goodbye

By: Tracy Gilmour-Nimoy, M.S., LMFT, PMH-C Over the edge of an exam table, my feet anxiously dangle; I can hear the sound from the crinkling paper as I nervously shift, my eyes desperately locked with my husband’s. A week of multiple diagnostics and appointments has led us here—in a doctor’s office three hours from home,…

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Shattering the Silence

By: Autumn Purdy On a brisk, sunny morning recently, I drove my daughter to her socially distanced ballet performance of “The Nutcracker”. This year will be different than all other years: masks on, dancing within a taped-off box, no parents or audience, and instead of enjoying a matinee showing of the annual Christmas spectacular at…

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Kindness is Good for the Soul

By: Rose Carlson Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.  ~Anne Herbert It is quite possible that one simple little sentence scrawled on a paper placemat in a restaurant in Sausalito, CA in the early 1980s, sparked the concept of “paying it forward.” Random Acts of Kindness, or RAKs, such as paying for coffee…

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For Harmony

By: Rachel Helden This is my first time writing to you since you left this world only a few short weeks ago. How can it be? The excitement so fresh before me, before us, and now you are gone. Really gone. I spent days convincing myself that surely what doctors told us had happened to…

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