Dear Friend

This “club” that we’re in is by far the last place any of us ever could have imagined being a part of and I wish more than anything that I didn’t have to share the title of bereaved mother/parent with you.

 

We may have met in person through Brightest Star, through a mutual friend, maybe at the cemetery Or maybe we’ve never actually been in the same room together, but we “met” online.

However this happened, there was an instant connection. There’s a wall that comes down when you meet someone who can truly say “I know your pain”.

 

Someone who gets how hard those initial days are, the holidays, the anniversaries, the anxiety, the secondary losses, and the day to day struggles.

You can commiserate and even find humor in uncomfortable situations with me when I share what people have said or done.

 

You understand when I say that today is just one of “those” days, the kind that makes you want to stay in bed and forget that the rest of the world is still somehow functioning while you’re more broken than you ever imagined was possible and not knowing how you’ll survive this pain.

 

You remember my beautiful boy, You honor him on birthdays, you notice right away how much his new little sister looks just like he did and you find such sweetness in that with me.

 

It’s not uncomfortable for us to talk about, because you know just how precious that gift is to my heart.

 

Those days when we were so lost together and we shared our deepest and darkest concerns.

You’ve sat with me when I didn’t have the words to express just how much my heart was hurting.

You have watched and cheered me on as I found hope again, as I began to mend slowly and encouraged me along the way.

You’ve been there through my journey to have more children and the additional losses we’ve encountered

I’ve been there through yours. We’ve commented, “liked”, held, snuggled, honored, and encouraged each other as we’ve welcomed new life into this world.

 

Some we have been fortunate enough to bring home, others like their sibling before them will always be in our hearts.

We have rallied around our sisters/brothers in loss who have become family.

We support each other, we find ways to lift each other up, we shed tears for each other’s pain, and we pray with all our might day and night when one of our own goes through tough times.

And we love each other through it all.

 

You are more than just a friend to me.

You are my sister/brother in loss.

You are someone who I can turn to through the highs and lows of this life I’ve been thrown into.

 

Thank you for listening, for sharing your heart with me and allowing me to share mine with you.

Thank you for loving my child in a way that only someone who has experienced this can.

Thank you for remembering him.

Thank you for being someone I can openly talk to about my child and for talking to me about yours.

Thank you for sharing pictures, videos, stories of your child with me.

Thank you for allowing me to love your child.

Because, dear friend, I do. I truly love your child and am so honored to know them through you.

This is the absolute worst way I can imagine to meet someone and became friends. But I am so thankful for your friendship and your love.

 

You and your child will always hold such a special place in my heart and I know the same goes for myself and my child.

Thank you for loving us.

I know that you sweet friend, understand just how much that that means to me