Support Sites:
Kindermourn is an non-profit organization in Charlotte, North Carolina that serves the needs of grieving parents and bereaved children and their families. : www.kindermourn.org.
Our Children’s Memorial Walkway is a beautiful tribute to children of all ages. This walkway is located in downtown Charlotte, NC and offers family a place of hope and life to remember their child. www.ocmw.org
For families who know of their loss before delivering, there is a service that provides photography services to families. I regret that we were unaware of them when we delivered Brody. http://nowilaymedowntosleep.com
This site offers weekly devotions, as well as other services for families who have suffered miscarriage or early infant loss. http://www.silentgrief.com
It is helpful to have a daily reminder that what you are going through is hard, but that you will make it through the grief. www.griefshare.com offers amazing daily devotions delivered to your email. It is a year long devotional series that starts anew for you when you sign up.
Footprints Ministry was created by the founders of Our Children’s Memorial Walkway. They are there to offer hope to bereaved families. http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/footprintsministry/index.html
Compassionate Friends assist families toward the positive resolution of grief following the death of a child of any age and to provide information to help others be supportive: http://www.compassionatefriends.org.
A list of additional sites may be found at: http://www.kumc.edu/gec/support/miscarri.html.
Recommended Reading:
The Bible – when all else fails, He never does.
Empty Cradle, Broken Heart: Surviving the Death of your Baby by Deborah L. Davis – I found this book to be the best at covering all of our bases. It was a bit of a clinical read, not trying to pull on your heartstrings, but just providing sound advice for every step of the way from the physical, to the emotional to the practical.
An Empty Cradle, a Full Heart: Reflections for Mothers and Fathers after Miscarriage, Stillbirth or Infant Death by Christine O'Keefe Lafser – this is a wonderful little book that has short journal entries on one side of the page with a supporting scripture from the Bible on the other side of the page. It can be hard to read at times and comforting at other times.
We Were Gonna Have a Baby, but We had an Angel Instead by Pat Schwiebert and Taylor Bills – this is a children's illustrated book to help siblings understand what has happened. It is not easy to read the simple text for us at parents, but children see the world through much more innocent eyes than we do.
Mommy, Please Don't Cry: There are No Tears in Heaven by Linda DeYmaz and Laurie Snow Hein – This is a simply written and beautifully illustrated book. I am not sure that I have read it front to back without crying, for while my spirit knows I can't comprehend the joys of heaven, my heart can't quite get there.
If you have additional recommendations, please email us at BrodyFly@gmail.com.
