Today, I will take baby steps
And, hold my head high
With a prayer of hope for a smile.
Today, I will give myself a hug
And, accept that I am a human
With a prayer of hope for forgiveness.
Today, …

The first Christmas without my mother was agony. Actually, the month before was probably worse than the day itself. Because my mother had been sick between December 6 and January 11, I relived the whole …

Dear Kelly,                                                                                                                                            November 23, 2009
I was going to name you Connor but decided on Kelly, another good Irish name… gosh that was 31 years ago…wow…now we are thinking about baby names again. We had …

My first granddaughter was born two months premature. My son and daughter-in-law gave her my mother’s name as her middle name. She weighed two pounds, six ounces when she was born. While in the hospital …

A mother’s viewpoint grief deep and profound
Nicole Alston recalls: April 29, 2005, was our due date, and like any typical first-time parents responding to the initial signs of labor, my husband Paul and I dashed to …

In 1988, when President Ronald Reagan declared October to be Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, I was still in college, not yet married, and motherhood was a distant point in my future.  The proclamation, …

During the 1970s, a number of my close family members died over six summers. The last of them was my two-day-old baby. It was a long time ago, but it’s been the hardest thing life …

When my brother Rod killed himself the grief itself made me feel like I was going crazy. One minute I was okay and calm, the next I was hysterical. If we are in the depths …

When my friend Dawn was pregnant with triplets, due the following June, her husband Andy wanted to surprise her with a special piece of jewelry for Christmas.  He had no idea what to get, so …

Most children who have a sibling die due to a pregnancy loss or stillbirth, or in the first few months of life, will experience a grief reaction.  However, often times, their grief is overlooked or …

I received a call one day from Pat, the Share support group facilitator and perinatal bereavement coordinator at the local hospital, telling me that she and I had been invited to speak to one of …

The workplace is like your second family to many people. Let’s face it, some people spend more time at work than with their immediate families!! After my mother died I don’t think that I was …

By Monica Novak –
As I walked into the house on a Friday morning, my husband, Al, handed me the front page of the Chicago Tribune.? “I think you should read this,” he said.? The headline …

By Cathi Lammert –
Often times, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are two of the most difficult days for bereaved parents. Some have told me that these days are so painful that they are not able …

By Monica Novak -
When I was a child, I prided myself on making the best homemade cards to show my parents how important they were to me.? Father’s Day was probably the Big Kahuna of …

By Nina Bennett –
In a monumental moment of synchronicity, I was present the night my beloved granddaughter was born still. She slid into this world without drawing a breath, following a full-term, healthy pregnancy and …