“You can just adopt.” This is a phrase I’ve heard countless times since ending our fertility journey. If only it were that easy. Since you’re talking about a human life, it really shouldn’t be “just” as easy as walking into the local Wal-Mart and picking out a doll. For the sake of brevity, I’m over-simplifying…
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It Is Okay For Your Grief To Be Messy
Continue...I have been writing for Still Standing for close to a year now. Every month when I sit down to begin an article I always try to think of one element of grief and hone in on that. Almost as if I must compartmentalize all of my feelings and then pick which box to open…
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Parenting After Loss: He Knows
Continue...As the years pass, and I spend them parenting after loss, I’m amazed at how our son, Keegan, responds to having a brother whom he has never seen. Keegan is 4 years old. And he knows. He knows that he has a big brother. While pregnant I was concerned about parenting after loss. I wasn’t…
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The Truth About Parenting After Loss
Continue...Every day, my heart bursts with gratitude for my firstborn’s life. Nearly four years after her birth, I am still in awe that together my husband and I created this little force with an affinity for dinosaurs and dance class. She fills me with love and pride, and I am so thankful for the beauty…
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Five Things I’ve Learned In Five Years Of Grief
Continue...Last month, my little girl would have turned five. I’ve lived 60 months without her, 261 weeks and 1825 days. The journey from our goodbye to today has been along a treacherous path. I have stumbled often, I have become lost in the dark, but I have also seen more light and witnessed more beauty…
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It’s OK To Just Listen
Continue...Sometimes in life, all we need is for someone to listen to us. No solutions, no opinions, no judgement. Yet often what we get is quite the opposite. In people’s rush to try and make our pain go away they can inadvertently steamroll over our thoughts and feelings. We are on a journey, a sometimes…
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Child Loss Is Not What I Thought It Would Be
Continue...The mental preparation began shortly after the doctor gave her “It’s not good” speech. It wasn’t a surprise. I had spent the last 10 hours watching my son go from a healthy 7-year old to breathing via machines. It would have taken a miracle for him to come back to us. I didn’t believe in…
