Faces of Loss, Faces of Hope

Story of HOPE

 Sarah ~ Emma and Connor’s bags of LOVE

Anna 2/14/06 - 4 years old

Baby "spec" lost to miscarriage 08/31/07 

Emma - 3-13-08 born to Heaven  

Connor 4-14-09 born to Heaven 

Wyatt born 4-4-08 adopted forever 6-25-10

I had one miscarriage and our son and Daughter (Emma and Connor) both had the birth Defect Anencephaly and were born still.

I have done several things in order to help work through my grief.  I wrote poetry for both babies and I counsel other moms who are carrying their babies to term.  I put our story on a blog.....Our story of Emma and Connor are under the June postings.  I was given a bracelet with my babies names inscribed on it ~ it meant so much to me and I have done the same for two friends who lost their babies.  I was also counseled through Prenatal Partners for Life when I was carrying my son to term and now I counsel moms like me.

I also started a bag/toy drive for kids in Foster care.  It is called “Emma and Connor's Bags of Love.”  It has helped us do good in their names and has allowed us to share their stories.  It has been wonderful to be able to talk about my babies...I am proud to be there mom!

So many times when a baby is lost people want to ignore the baby all together.  Using their names for this project has brought their lives into so many others!  We have collected over a thousand bags which have been donated to kids in foster care and a few have even been used to carry medical supplies on mission trips.  We are now joining forces with a foundation who helps older children in foster care as they age out.  

I am doing something that I never thought possible before.  We started training for the foster to adopt program and adopted our son.  I never imagined we would adopt before we had Emma.  Now that Wyatt is a part of our lives I could never imagine life without him.  

Unfortunately, when we were in foster classes, we found out that most kids who are taken into custody are only given a garbage bag for their belongings.  I couldn't get this out of my head, so I went to work and began Bags of Love.  I started out just asking friends and family and then went on to ask the local schools.  Now we even have a logo!  

Having babies born with birth defects changes your perspective on everything.  I remember my husband and I praying for our son Connor to "just have" spina bifida.  When doing the characteristic check list of conditions we were willing to accept in foster children I think we were much more accepting than we would have been before.  

  You can read more about Sarah's story on her  blog.