Three and a half months ago, Steven and I attended our first Tears Meeting in Lakewood. It was a cold, windy, rainy night, and I had been at one of my absolute lowest points earlier that day. While sitting on my couch sobbing, I remembered having heard about the Tears Foundation when we were discharged, empty armed from the hospital, after Brynna died. All I remember hearing was that they were a group that helped offset the financial burden of funeral expenses and burial/cremation costs, for parents who have lost babies. What I did not know until that very stormy Wednesday in January, was that they also have support groups.
Steven and I, at that point, had participated in two other grief groups for families who have lost children, but that night when we walked into the Tears meeting, something clicked. For the first time, we were amongst people who really understood our loss. The loss of a child at any age, under any circumstance, is undeniably tragic. We felt though, that we needed to meet people "like us". People that don't really have that many "memories" to cling to. People who are reminded every week that their baby would be "that much older" and "accomplishing much anticipated milestones" had they only lived longer.
For the first time since Brynna passed away, we were in the presence of people who could 100% meet us right where we were.
We will be attending our fourth meeting this month, and each time I look forward to it. It is heart wrenching to go and hear of each family's loss, but it is also reassuring to us to know we truly are not alone on this horrible road. We walk together.
*******************************
I want to inform everyone reading this blog, that our family will be participating in the Tears Foundation Annual Rock and Walk on June 16th at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. We will be walking for a few hours in honor of Brynna, and all the other babies that have passed away far, far too soon.
A great number of you have expressed interest in joining our team to walk with us. The more the merrier! Our whole family, including the boys, will be there, and we welcome any and all that would like to join us in support and remembrance of our sweet daughter/sister. We are so humbled and feel so loved to have such a large support network.
If you have not already registered, you can follow the link below to the Tacoma Rock and Walk registration page and click on the "register" button, then follow the instructions.
http://www.firstgiving.com/tears/2012-washington-rock-walk
Early Bird Registration is open until May 12th for $5 per adult (kids 12 and under are free this year). If you want, those that have already signed up with us are also going to be wearing t-shirts that have "Team Brynna" on the back. The shirts are a $15 donation. The money raised goes to help parents of recently deceased babies, offset the cost of funeral expenses and burial/cremation costs.
I had set a team fundraising goal of $1000.00 and am so excited that our team has currently raised a total of $985.00! Only $15 more and we'll be at goal. I am wondering now, how much we can shoot that initial goal of $1000 out of the water? If you are unable to walk, but would still like to donate to the Tears Foundation through Team Brynna, you can follow this link and do so:
https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/babybrynna/2012-washington-rock-walk
Thank you so much to those of you who are currently signed up to walk with us. Thank you as well, to those of you who can't walk, but have been generous enough to donate. I hope someday you all know how much your love and support mean to Steven, the boys and myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment