Helping Others Help You Through Loss

By: Molly Hickey Sipping coffee and sitting across from a long time friend, we talked about the weather, her kids, our jobs, and husbands. With each break in the conversation, I hoped she would ask about Joseph and Grace. I hoped she’d ask about how I am navigating the grieving process, ask how it felt to be back at work when I was…

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Quiet Heroes

By: Jennifer Haake I spent many years in a clinical capacity in healthcare.  I don’t think anyone would ever disagree that nurses are the unsung heroes of medicine.  For a newly bereaved parent, they are often the ones to shape where the journey begins. In my case, I was laying on a stretcher getting my…

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To 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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Father’s Day and Miscarriage

By: Tiffany Elder I remember looking at the screen and waiting.  Waiting for the technician to zoom in on the baby so we could see her for the first time. My husband was off to the side holding our three-year-old son on his lap. When the baby finally made her appearance on the screen, I…

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My Most Favorite Father

By: Amber Mangrum He made all the phone calls. He sent all the texts. Over and over, he repeated to family and friends, “Our girls are here.” We knew going into the hospital that it was not going to be sunshine and rainbows for us; our identical twin daughters were already gone. Giving birth was…

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Beware the Highlight Reel: Navigating Social Media After Loss

By: Leslie Steele While loss of a loved one is a struggle impacting every generation, grappling with loss in the age of social media is a very new issue. And truly, as a blogger, who is a self-professed over-sharer, it’s something I never ever thought about. Until I had to. There are wonderful things about…

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There Are No Words

By: Kathy Gardner I spot her at the grocery store Her son was killed in 9/11 She is tenderly picking out apples And I am scowling at green bananas I wonder if she has heard my news She answers me Simply by looking over her shoulder She must sense a familiar desperation She turns deliberately…

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From Strangers To Forever Friends

By: Jennifer Haake I think the general perception of support groups is what we typically see in movies.  A group of people sitting in a circle looking so sad.  I remember walking into my very first support group meeting after we lost Charlie.  It was about a month after he died.  I was still in…

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Priceless Keepsakes

By: Julie Linck Memories are what exist after a loved one dies. For our precious babies, this is what we grieve the most. We are robbed of the opportunity to create memories and experiences together with our child. So how can we find ways to hold onto this sweet life that was taken much too…

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Proof of Life

By: Brooke Taylor Duckworth In a cedar lined dresser drawer in my bedroom, I keep a purple box the closes with a ribbon tie. It contains an impossibly tiny nightie and a sweet little hat that looks like it would fit a doll. These are the clothes my daughter Eliza wore in the hospital, after…

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