(Topic: Memorial walks for infant loss)
Hi Friends,
This is about something that happened last fall, that for some reason I hadn’t gotten around to writing about.
In October, which is PAIL awareness month (Pregnancy And Infant Loss), many organizations hold memorial services or memorial walks, and occasionally fundraisers (and sometimes the walks have minor registration fees that help continue the work of that organization).
One of the organizations that held a memorial we were able to attend was Sophia’s Wings. This wonderful organization, “Offering free grief counseling to families suffering the loss of a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth, ectopic pregnancy, or neonatal death.” They only have limited availability at this point, because their service is so wonderful! And, sadly, because many people are in the circumstances of experiencing pregnancy or infant loss, and getting therapy can be a big help in learning to live with grief. Here’s the Sophia’s Wings Facebook Page (Hubby and Pookie and I are currently featured on their cover photo as I write this!).
The walk they held began in a fieldhouse along the track, and also had activities, such as making an ornament for the Sophia’s Wings office, and an area where children could build things with their parents after the event. The whole thing started off with a moving ceremony, with a keynote speaker movingly sharing their loss story, and music. Then everyone walked around the track, and those who wished could walk around the neighborhood on a course.
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| The ornament I made for Charlie. |
Here’s a picture of Charlie’s ornament hanging in their office: Memorial Tree.
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| Pookie sitting next to the memorial luminary with Charlie’s name. |
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| Leah Vonne was photographing the event, and this photo by her is one of only a handful of our family, and means so much to us. Because of that, we used it as our Christmas card for 2018. |
Here’s the photo album of the whole event: Album by Leah Vonne Photography
Hubby and I make a point to participate in this kind of memorial when we can, for several reasons. One is that they offer important services, and we find it important to help support them. Another is that memorial services are a wonderful, touching, and wrenching way to remember Charlie completely openly and publicly. I find that no matter how I honor and remember him in daily life, this way of acknowledging him, hearing his name read out, and walking in his honor is helpful to us in knowing he will always be loved and remembered.
Yours,
Sarah
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Resource list: Visit my spreadsheet at www.tinyurl.com/infantloss