Personal stories from pregnancy and infant loss
Up to 1,500 words
Please include some reflection on your grieving and healing journey. This could be growth, lessons learned, connection with your baby, meaningful signs or messages, healing experiences, or moments of kindness, grace, and hope found in grief.
The reality is that we can hold both the pain and sorrow of grief with hope and healing. I am determined to let others who have been impacted by these devastating losses know that as well. This work is my lifeline, my purpose, and my commitment to make a difference in the lives of those who share in the heartbreak of loss.
Read MoreSharing my son's story and listening to others' narratives provided a sacred space for me to unravel, only to gradually piece myself back together. In the gentle embrace of shared experiences, I found the strength to confront the depth of my pain.
Read MoreI often say that the support I experienced and continue to experience from this community of loss moms has been a life raft. Without it, I may have drowned in a sea of my own sorrow and tears.
Read MoreAfter enough of those moments, you look back at where you have been, and realize that hope has somehow snuck its way back in.
Read MoreAfter attending the Return to Zero BIPOC Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support Group I became very close with a couple of the other women who attended and have since gone through pregnancy after loss and now parenting after loss with two of them. I consider them sisters and know we will be lifelong friends.
Read MoreEven though DJ is no longer here physically, he is ALWAYS here in spirit, because I carry him with me. He is my motivation. He lifts me up on the days I want to quit. He inspires me to help others.
Read MoreThe act of volunteering helped me heal from my own trauma by reshaping the need to bare my story as something that serves others–as well as RTZ HOPE’s mission–with people who might be too afraid to reach out for help.
Read MoreEver since we lost her, purple flowers pop up in our path everywhere we go. We hold them as a symbol of her and our friends and family share purple flower photos and videos too.
Read MoreThese women spoke my innermost thoughts, they normalized ALL of the things happening to and around me. I listened to their stories and grieved with them. I realized these were bravest, most compassionate, loving mothers.
Read MoreThe present and future are mine to create, and while I’m still finding my way, I see such calm in the skies, and that helps me feel whole.
Read MoreMy child, once torn from me,
Seems close.
I feel her.
She is mine,
I am her mother.
We have been blessed to be able to make connections with other friends and local families that have experienced losses as well. The network and support of their experiences connects us in a family bond that is hard to describe.
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