When I left the hospital without my infant twin sons on that cold day in April 1990, so long ago, I was given a keepsake booklet containing imprints of their tiny feet and the only photographs of Kevin and Art, taken minutes after their births. The haunting images of my babies, lying side by side and dressed only in the hospital-issued infant T-shirts, became the only validation of a void I would never fill. Our boys arrived too soon, after I had carried them for nearly six months. Without a support group, the cold advice often given was to “move on and forget.” Yet, no matter how many years went by, nothing could be further from the truth than saying I never thought about the babies I lost. Instead, I held my sons in my heart, and I never forgot. I was always “still remembering.”

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Perhaps that was the reason behind the instant connection when I met Lauren McLean in 2016, and was introduced to the newly formed group, The Still Remembered Project. Learning about their ministry for bereaved parents made me want to get involved by initially donating my wedding gown to SRP's Angel Gown program. Thinking back to the photographs of Kevin and Art in their hospital T-shirts, I initially worried that giving up my gown might become another heart-wrenching reminder of my loss, yet seeing it transformed three Angel Gowns replaced my grief with gratitude for The Still Remembered Project and the outpouring of compassion and support to those in need of comfort. And that was only the beginning of the widespread impact that SRP would make. Through the group, I connected with families who shared their stories of infant loss and I included those narratives in a book I authored, "Carried Within Me: Echoes of Infant Loss." The book impacted hundreds of bereaved parents throughout the U.S. and abroad, reminding them that they are not alone in their loss. 

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Today, I am encouraged to know that the stigma of infant loss is no longer a silent sorrow because of the compassionate ministry provided by SRP and the wonderful impact they have made.

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