And see all the happy families
warm and safe and sound.
If you've ever lost a child you know
about that ache in your heart.
You know you'd give anything
to be together rather than apart.
If you've ever lost a child you know
there is no better place.
Your arms are where that child belongs,
right in that empty space.
If you've ever lost a child you know
how it feels to be incomplete;
And how your feelings of grief and sadness
often feel just like defeat.
If you've ever lost a child you know
no reason can be found,
That your child was the one
who was not kept safe and sound.
If you've ever lost a child you may not know
that you are not to blame.
That despite the feeling of brokenness,
you should not be ashamed.
If you've ever lost a child you feel
the pain always in your heart.
If you've ever lost a child you know,
though, you're really never apart.
By: Kathy Glow
Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. More than 500,000 pregnancies each year end in miscarriage, and about 25,000 babies a year, or 68 babies every day, are still born.
Not included here are the statistics of babies who die shortly after birth, succumb to SIDS, or die from a pediatric illness such as cancer. And let us not forget the many women who make the heart wrenching decision to terminate a pregnancy for whatever reason. They are mothers, too. Many, like a dear friend of mine, go on to be wonderful, loving mothers.
This makes my heart heavy and sad.
The statistics are staggering, yet many women are still suffering in silence. Unaware of where to turn or whom they can talk to, they retreat into themselves and carry their grief cloaked by shame and feelings of inadequacy.
But it does not have to be this way. We are in a new age, a new generation of women who are willing to talk about and share their stories in the hope that it will help someone suffering in silence. Today, on Her View From Home, I am finally telling the whole story of my three miscarriages, all causing different emotions.
No two stories are the same. Every woman has a unique loss and should be treated as such. Please read some or all of these stories, and share words of support and encouragement.
Great news - Sunshine After the Storm: A Survival Guide for the Grieving Mother became available in paperback today. Follow the link in the upper left corner to snag your copy. It is still free on Kindle until Thursday, after which the price will return to $3.99. I will be giving a copy away at some point, too.
Tonight, at 7:00 p.m., please turn on your porch light in honor of all the babies lost, how ever they were lost.
