Angel Names in the Sand

It's been a while since we had any posts on the blog but this morning we received a beautiful email to the blog from someone who came across our page last year.

Felicia added her boys' names to our memorial page after her second loss and has now started writing names in the sand in Kauai, Hawaii to help other bereaved parents and bring them some comfort.

The email this morning was a lovely surprise as Felicia had taken the time to write the names of all our babies in the sand.

If anyone would like their baby's/babies names written, please contact Felicia via her blog...

Angel Names in the Sand

Thank you Felicia,

Clara, Gemma & Nicole xxx

Sam: Tiny Wings

Hi my name is Sam Barlow, I am 38 years old, a teacher living in the market town of Bungay in Suffolk.

The  4th August  2012 was to be the moment in time when my life changed completely. My longed for second child, a daughter Isabella, was stillborn at 41 weeks, taken so tragically by the cord wrapped around her neck three times. Words can’t really express what this event did to my husband, my 8 year old daughter and me but somehow we are here, a year on, still standing. Of course I don’t really need to say how ‘this’ feels, what it is to live with ‘this’ every day or how you just somehow get on with life, you know, you have been here too and you understand. My heart goes out to all of you who have had to know this other life, this other you, this emptiness and shockingly overwhelming force that is grief.

Not long after losing Isabella I became involved with an online support group called Angel Mummies (www.angelmummies.co.uk) and realised that this new community I belonged to was to be my life saver, my haven and my best friends in the whole world, albeit virtual. It is so true that through grief friends become strangers and strangers become friends and so it was that I wanted to give something back, I wanted to bring a smile to a face that had forgotten how to do this, I wanted to warm a heart that at times forgets to beat.

So I set up Tiny Wings (www.facebook.com/beachnames), a Facebook page that offers bereaved parents a chance to request their baby’s name written in sand or painted stones, to somehow validate their existence and give them a keepsake to cherish. I do this for free and all I ask is that if they have money to spare they donate to one of two chosen charities that have supported me in my heart breaking journey, Aching Arms and EACH – East Anglia Children’s Hospice.

Soon I hope to be able to offer a gift service of a framed A4 or A5 photo for a small fee but again to raise money for these charities that have been so invaluable to me.

Each time I do a baby's name, I think of these precious little ones who sadly cannot be here with their family, I send a little prayer and a floaty kiss and hope that wherever they are, they are looking down and seeing their name shining out for all to see, hoping a little smile appears for them too.

Clara: Mother's Day Name Event

This May I signed up to take part in a Mother's Day Name Event run by Catherine via her Twinkle of Light blog. (Catherine is also the mum behind Gabriel's Garden and The Sacred Seashore.)

Although May doesn't play host to Mother's Day in the UK, I felt this would be a good project to be involved as it coincided with the girls' birthdays and anniversaries. It also inspired me because I know just how much I love to see my girls' names written in a myriad of ways and in a myriad of places and I felt it would be therapeutic to be able to do this for others.

Basically, you signed up to write names of other little ones gone too soon in any way you could think of. You were then sent a list of names to write along with the contact details to send them to their mummies. For every name you wrote, you would receive  something for your own little ones.

Grace's 1st birthday and anniversary on 4th May saw me at a beach on the East coast of Scotland with butterfly and heart stones writing 10 names in the sand. Little ones from all over the world, who now play in the same garden as my girls.

As the month of May goes on, I have been receiving  the girls' names in my inbox from all corners of the globe... Australia, USA, Canada...

This has been a fantastic project to have been involved in and I would like to thank Catherine for coming up with the idea and hosting such an inspiring and comforting event for bereaved mothers all over the world. I am hoping that the event will take place again next year so if anyone is interested, please follow Catherine's Twinkle of Light blog.