A Month of Small Celebrations - December 6

Small Celebration

I have two today.  :)

First thing that I am celebrating is my sister and her amazing job of completing her bachelors degree in education! She texted me a picture of the letter from her school congratulating her on her accomplishment. And she has decided to go on to getting her masters in special ed! A choice close to my heart. She has inspired me with all the focus she has put into her life to make the changes she decided she wanted. I could not be more proud of my sister right now, for all that she has done. 

And

I am a member of a group of TTTS parents who reach out to other parents who have recently lost their child(ren) to this syndrome. We offer to send them a grief package. I am thrilled to say that I have been a member since the beginning and that I am honored to be a part of such important work. Losing a child(ren) during pregnancy or after birth is a very isolating event. So few people know what to say or do to support the parent in their grief and the grief can be so debilitating that explaining or showing others what they feel or need demands more energy than they have. I know that there were times when remembering to breathe felt like it took all of my focus just to complete. So we personalize our grief packages to the loss experienced by the grieving parent. We try to send little gifts that say "I remember your child(ren) and I grieve their death also". I just sent out my 5th package today. While I absolutely hate that there is a need for this group and I hope that one day that need will stop; it means so much to me that I can be a part of this amazing group of loving and supportive people. Once a child has died we can't stop the grief. We can't fix the grief. But hopefully we can make it a little less lonely. When I say it is my honor to do this, I mean it. 

Here's a picture of my sister and my son from August 2011.