Loss and Life

22 days ago, Tori Mae was born. We stood at the hospital looking at a beautiful baby, this tiny little body with a perfectly round head and long fingers and toes. We experienced the wonder of new life. It was a night of hope, excitement and joy.

13 days ago, we stood at the hospital as the doctor turned around to tell us that there was nothing more he could do; my sister's baby was dead. It was a night of shock, despair and sorrow.

These last 2 weeks, I haven't had much to say. We're all just trying to figure things out. Trying to survive, trying to keep moving, trying to come to terms with any of it in our minds and hearts, trying to find our new "normal". We're struggling to simply live life in the face of loss.

Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Today, with grieving hearts, we will lift up one another in prayer. We will remember Tori Mae and the joy she brought us in 9 days. We will think of and pray for others around the world who have experienced the loss of a child. At 7pm we will light candles and join people across the country in remembering the little ones we have lost.

If you read this, I ask that you say a prayer for anyone who has lost - a prayer for comfort, for peace and for hope. love you always tori mae.