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Who We Are Our Story & Vision Events & Updates Meet the Team Donors & Partners Annual & Financial Reports Where We Stand Find Support Guidance for Bereaved Parents Directory for Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support Groups & Workshops Healing Retreats Resources Webinars Books & Podcasts Gift Guides BIPOC LGBTQ+ For Family & Friends Remembrance Keepsakes Recognition of Life Certificates RTZ Film Grief in the Workplace Voices of Hope Stories of HOPE Conversations of HOPE Providers Provider Resources Materials & Brochures Continuing Education Education & Training Join Our Provider Network Get Involved Get Involved The Lighthouse Monthly Giving Program Wishlist Program Job Postings
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Transforming the Culture of Pregnancy and Infant Loss
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STORIES OF HOPE

STORIES, INSIGHTS, AND HOPE SHARED BY OUR COMMUNITY

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Ariel, Sharing Hope in Memory of her Baby Boy
Ariel, Sharing Hope in Memory of her Baby Boy

These 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.

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Shianne GundersenMarch 6, 2024Power of Support Groups, TFMRComment
When Love Is Silenced, Joshua’s Story by Michelle Dudley
When Love Is Silenced, Joshua’s Story by Michelle Dudley

I had to come to terms with the fact that bad things happen in this imperfect world where death and darkness exist. Joshua’s death was not caused by any “mistake or choice” I made. I eventually came to accept this.

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Shianne GundersenFebruary 26, 2024StillbirthComment
To Calm Your Nerves, Little Love by Elizabeth Neal
To Calm Your Nerves, Little Love by Elizabeth Neal

My love will wrap around you like a warm blanket little love. And with that love, I’ll shield you with a golden aura of protection to keep you safe. To deflect any harm or negativity.

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Shianne GundersenFebruary 23, 2024Pregnancy After LossComment
Dear Loss Mom: A Letter To My Younger Self by Keisha Wells
Dear Loss Mom: A Letter To My Younger Self by Keisha Wells

If I could speak to the young loss mom—the younger me—the woman in the prime of her 20s ambitious and eager to make a mark in the world, ready to take on motherhood to only be plowed by feelings of failure and misery, I would like to share these gentle words with her now—and you too—of what I know and have learned for sure, thus far, on my grief journey.

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Shianne GundersenFebruary 23, 2024Stillbirth Twins
Rebirth in the Face of Loss by Elizabeth Neal
Rebirth in the Face of Loss by Elizabeth Neal

I chose to do something different from my first encounter with pregnancy loss. I wouldn’t isolate, hide, bury, put up a front, smile. I would honor every single feeling that arose, as it did in real time… And in doing so, I was writing a new story. This was new for me.

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Shianne GundersenFebruary 23, 2024Miscarriage, HealingComment
Turning Tragedy into Opportunity: 5 Things I learned about Using My Voice After My  Son Died by Kima Tozay, LICSW
Turning Tragedy into Opportunity: 5 Things I learned about Using My Voice After My Son Died by Kima Tozay, LICSW

Despite feeling like a complete failure because I was unable to protect him, I focused on how I could use my experience to be the voice for change.

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Shianne GundersenFebruary 23, 2024Stillbirth, AdvocacyComment
Fallen Bird by Natasha de Sousa
Fallen Bird by Natasha de Sousa

I couldn’t imagine that my life would one day be filled with laughter, joy, and love again; but it is. Of course, there are also challenges, tears, and pain. All these can coexist in one heart. My heart is filled with love, grief, joy and hope.

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Shianne GundersenFebruary 23, 2024Neonatal DeathComment
Rituals for Grieving by Megan Sheldon
Rituals for Grieving by Megan Sheldon

I needed a way to say goodbye, not only to the life that had been growing in me, but also to the due date, the list of names, the future I had already started to paint.

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Shianne GundersenFebruary 23, 2024Miscarriage, Grief RitualsComment
Healing After the Loss of a Child by Brianne Edwards
Healing After the Loss of a Child by Brianne Edwards

We can’t choose how long it takes to win any given battle with grief, but we can choose whether we’ll keep fighting for the life we want to live, or whether we’ll settle into our misery. We can turn with courage toward healing, or we can turn our backs on it.

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Shianne GundersenFebruary 19, 2024SIDS, GriefComment
I Picture Them Together by N'keya Peters-Camille
I Picture Them Together by N'keya Peters-Camille

"I was experiencing the grief of losing my mom and then I started experiencing the grief of losing my pregnancy.”

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Shianne GundersenFebruary 5, 2024Miscarriage, Fertility TreatmentsComment
Finding Me: The Calm After The Storm by Crystal Lupo
Finding Me: The Calm After The Storm by Crystal Lupo

The 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.

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Shianne GundersenJanuary 24, 2024Stillbirth, Fertility Treatments, Later GriefComment
Hold The Rope, a Poem by Kristen Rademacher
Hold The Rope, a Poem by Kristen Rademacher

My child, once torn from me,
Seems close.
I feel her.
She is mine,
I am her mother.

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Shianne GundersenJanuary 18, 2024Stillbirth, Later GriefComment
Brian, Sharing Hope in Memory of Elliot
Brian, Sharing Hope in Memory of Elliot

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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Shianne GundersenJanuary 16, 2024FatherComment
Keep Miracles Alive by Alicia Hinton
Keep Miracles Alive by Alicia Hinton

I was only prepared to expect the future with my babies, not expecting the reality of losing them both.

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Shianne GundersenJanuary 11, 2024StillbirthComment
Steadfast Love by Crystal Midlik
Steadfast Love by Crystal Midlik

I’m here now without her, but I still carry her with me. All of the plans we made are unfolding, and instead of her being in my arms, she’s brought along in my mind.

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Shianne GundersenOctober 29, 2022Stillbirth Comment
What Does it Feel Like? by Nicole Longmire
What Does it Feel Like? by Nicole Longmire

And then there's grief itself which feels a lot like standing with your back to the ocean. You’re never sure when a wave will hit or how big it will be.

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Shianne GundersenSeptember 1, 2022Neonatal death, Grief Comment
Paint By Numbers by Amanda Duffy
Paint By Numbers by Amanda Duffy

Parenting your dead child is like painting by numbers but there are no numbers to paint by… All the rules and directions have been lost. How does one know what color comes next?

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Shianne GundersenAugust 19, 2022StillbirthComment
I Surrender by Claire Olson
I Surrender by Claire Olson

There is a light flickering somewhere inside of every bereaved mother, even on the darkest days, that is fueled by faint pieces of who we are. That light may be dim, but it can shine brightly again.

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Shianne GundersenAugust 25, 2021Depression Comment
The Intimate Purpose of a Mother and a Child Lives on Forever by Angelica Fricot
The Intimate Purpose of a Mother and a Child Lives on Forever by Angelica Fricot

Once you are able to take some deeper breaths, you may notice life isn’t moving past you so much, but life is beginning to move in you. In a new way. No, nothing will ever be the same, nor after your loss would you want it to be.

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Guest AuthorMay 24, 2021Stillbirth Comments
Finding Hope By Emily Mockett
Finding Hope By Emily Mockett

I find peace in the natural world that my daughter, like a rose bud that never got to bloom, was still a part of the bush, part of the garden and her lifetime however brief in the grand scheme of the universe was as important as any other being.

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Guest AuthorDecember 16, 2020Neonatal death Comment
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