Last October, I was reading a friend’s blog and learned that October 15 was Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. In the post, she shared about how difficult it was when she lost her baby to a miscarriage the previous year. I remember feeling heartbroken for her and also thinking that something like that would surely never happen to me.
This year, I look at October 15 through a different lens because I am now that statistic. I am that girl whose baby passed away – the one that people look at and make a sad face because they aren’t certain what to say or how to act around me. I never in a million years thought it would happen to me. But it did.
October 15 is all about bringing to light a topic that people don’t like to talk about. Since it makes so many people uncomfortable, each year thousands of heartbroken families are left to grieve silently while the world pushes on. On October 15, please consider taking a few moments to pray for the families of those who have lost a little one through pregnancy loss, stillbirth, or newborn death. I was incredibly blessed to be surrounded by a massive network of prayer and support after Isabelle passed away. Not all women are that fortunate. I know that it is the prayers and support of family, friends, and complete strangers that have helped me to put one foot in front of the other the last couple of months.
Additionally, on October 15 many choose to participate in the “Wave of Light” (see www.October15th.com) by lighting a candle at 7pm in remembrance of a little one who left this world too soon, and leaving it burning for one hour. This results in a wave of light around the planet.
On this day devoted to remembering all of the tiny saints in heaven, my heart certainly will be heavy with grief for Isabelle. However, I find hope in the beautiful rainbows (see Isabelle’s Rainbows) that she gave us in the days following her funeral. I plan to cling to that hope and the promise that I will, God willing, one day see her again in heaven.
