Healing Hearts: Reflections of love, loss, and light

This Sunday, May 4th, is Bereaved Mother’s Day — a day to remember and honor the mothers who have experienced the pain of losing a child. For many of us, it’s not a day that the world recognizes, but for those who’ve walked this heartbreaking path, it’s a day to pause and reflect on the love and grief we continue to carry. Yesterday, I recorded a panel for the Healing Hearts Podcast with four incredible mothers who also know what it’s like to lose a child. We spoke about the hard stuff — the real questions that so many bereaved mothers ask themselves, even years later. Questions that don’t always have easy answers but are always deeply felt. One question that really stopped me in my tracks was: What part of your loss still haunts you? The answer came to me quickly: The silence. The silence I still feel. The silence of never hearing Alivia cry. I had a healthy pregnancy. Everything seemed fine. I was ready to hold my baby. But when she was born, there was no cry. Just silence. A...

Six years ago today, my dad died. The memory of that day is still so vivid. It started with a phone call bearing news that he wasn’t doing well. I remember the worry gnawing at me, but there was still hope. Then came the final call. And there I was, standing in my kitchen, doing the dishes, feeling like the ground had shifted beneath me. Suddenly, I was in a world without my dad. The numbness was overwhelming. I went through the motions that night, but it’s all a blur. Grief does that—it fogs your mind, leaving you disoriented and lost. This date, every year, brings a rush of emotions, both old and new. I always think I'll be more prepared, that somehow the passage of time will soften the blow. But grief doesn’t work on a schedule. Today, I feel a weight on my chest, a heaviness that’s hard to shake. The pain is sharp, and the uncertainty is unsettling. Part of me wants to shove it all aside, to ignore it and carry on. But I’ve learned that ignoring grief doesn’t make it go away. I...