We will remember...

We spent the past weekend traveling to Alabama to be with our friends as they grieve the loss of their son. It’s so hard to accept this heartbreaking loss. They are some of the kindest people we know and have been so supportive to us during our loss, and to see them now in so much pain is difficult. We felt honored to have the opportunity to be with them and try to return some of the love and support they have shown us, but I still feel it’s hardly enough. The memorial service was heartbreaking; the father gave the most beautiful, touching eulogy. It was such a tribute to the incredible love that they so obviously have for their son. Seeing the anguish and pain my friend was experiencing as she tried to walk into the church for her son’s funeral will be forever etched into my mind. To know there is nothing I can do to take away that pain is extremely hard. As we drove back yesterday I felt so torn and cried feeling so helpless, wishing that I wasn’t so far away and could be more available to her in what I know will be a difficult journey in the coming days.

It’s hard to fathom how quickly life can change and how unexpectedly death can take from us those who we love most. Our friends just had pictures taken with their beautiful son a couple of days before his death. You can see so much love evident in those pictures and can’t help but think how unfair it is that he was taken from such loving parents.

This is a poem another friend shared at a local Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness event; it seems fitting to the grief and loss my friend and I have suffered this past year. We will never forget the children that were taken from us, the hole that they have left behind in our lives, and the piece of our hearts that will forever be broken in their absence.