Kindred Strangers

By: Ann-Marie Ferry I never saw it coming. Tear soaked face. Thrown together carry-on. Royal blue, malodorous, Grey’s Anatomy scrubs. I must have been a sight that day. Sitting among strangers, waiting for the plane, I prayed, “Lord, I need an everyday miracle. Please sit me next to another Christian I can pray with during…

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Your Love Is Legendary

By: Ann-Marie Ferry Mother Bear first noticed the faint smell of smoke that morning as she wandered about her home of skyward reaching trees, brambles, berries, and trickling streams. She paid it no heed. Her two cubs wrestled about in the underbrush, ear gnawing, rollie pollies that would jump to a battling bear stance at…

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Finding Beauty in Grief

By: Robyn Busekrus The season of Fall has quickly transformed the trees.  The hues of red, orange and yellow are bountiful in color.  Seasons of change are difficult for those of us who have experienced pregnancy loss.  There is beauty in the seasons changing, yet an ache as we wish our children were here. This…

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The 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…

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Sailing

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,…

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An 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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Listening To the Voices of Bereaved Fathers

By: Ann-Marie Ferry Fathers often get the short end of the stick when it comes to grief support. It should not be. However, for a variety of reasons it often remains the case. When I was asked to write an article for newly bereaved fathers, I was apprehensive. I am a bereaved mother. How do…

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Full and Broken

By: Ann-Marie Ferry My heart is full and broken. I am sitting in my quiet living room as a sweet little 11-week-old girl sleeps on my chest. The time since her birth has been a peaceful one. We have experienced all the crazy sleeplessness and the insanity of transitioning to be a family of four.…

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