Every year, the day before Mother's Day is my baby loss group's, Common Bonds, Remembrance Walk at Thanksgiving Point. It is such a beautiful morning and it's amazing to see all of the many lives touched by the loss of their babies and see the joy it brings them to just have their babies remembered that morning. Our friends, the Mailes, came to remember little Gabriel and support us. Thank you Mailes!!
This is Heather, the bereavement counselor that heads Common Bonds. She's the amazing woman that showed up at the hospital at 2:30 am to give us all of the special treasures that we have for Gabriel....his molds, his prints, the pictures, and the beautiful blanket that he was wrapped in. It's amazing to me that she has been doing this wonderful act of service for so many years. She has seen so much heartache and yet has brought so much understanding to a difficult time, being the mother of an angel baby herself. The treasures she sends you home with when your arms are empty make those precious memories last and I will be forever thankful for the gift she has been to me. At the Remembrance Walk she always has the perfect words to say, then the names of all of the babies are read one by one, and a moment of silence takes place at the end. It's such an emotional thing, but so good to hear your baby's name read and remembered. As Gabriel's name was read that morning a flock of birds flew overhead almost immediately following. It was almost as if Gabriel was saying, "I'm here guys!" I love to hear my little Gabriel's name.
After the short program is over the grounds to the Thanksgiving Point Gardens are open for the families to walk around. The only people there are there to remember all of the sweet babies that are missed so much. There's such a special feeling there, almost like our babies are right by our side. One of the last places I went when I was pregnant with both Gabriel and Reese was to these gardens, so it has become a very special place for me. I think I'll always feel close to them there.
Skylar & Malia just happened to be twinners for the day. Totally unplanned but so cute, these two!
I'm not super huge into angels or anything but I loved the way this
angel was watching over the Secret Garden when so many families were
there to remember our angels. It just hit me as very stunning.
The Secret Garden is one of my favorite places at the TP Gardens. It's so peaceful there. We stopped and took some pictures of our families. I'm mad at myself about this next picture because my baby bump had suddenly popped out, but it was in that stage where it's kind of questionable to whether you're pregnant or just sporting a major gut. I made Alexis sit on my lap so you couldn't see. I even mentioned to Abby that I shouldn't do that because I wanted pictures of me being pregnant with Reese since I'd had so few with Gabriel. At least Reese was there though...and still alive.
The gorgeous Maile girlies....
Towards the end everyone started being super silly and making statue poses. These kids would be really good statues. Anyone notice the big kid in there with them?!
I love this next picture with Ben, Nick, Alexis, and Kade....all wearing their Walk to Remember shirts in memory of Gabriel. He's never forgotten in our house and I'm glad that everyone loves him so much!
We had such a nice morning walking around the beautiful grounds of the Thanksgiving Point Gardens. It was so nice to spend time with the Mailes having such a fun time. We are so thankful for all of the love they have shown us since losing Gabriel. We love you Mailes!!
This has become one of my favorite things to do. I love having the chance to spend the morning honoring the precious babies of friends that I've come to depend on through my Common Bonds group and remembering our little Gabriel. We'll add Reese to that list of names that is read next year. Although I wish with all of my heart that they were here, I love knowing that for a few minutes every year in May, my baby boys' names will be read aloud and that they will be remembered.
Thankful Thursday:
P.S. This will just have to be my thankful for the day since I'm way too pooped to write another post. It's true. I am very thankful for this day. It was a absolutely awesome day to spend with wonderful friends and my awesome family!
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