Diana Stone blogs her own life story at Diana Wrote. She and her military retired husband have two girls, 8 and 2, and three sons who passed away after birth. Preston and Julian were born in 2012 at 20 weeks and, after a traumatic stay in the hospital, she learned how to advocate for herself and other mothers regarding medical care.
Kaden was born in 2013, and when he was 4 days old and ready to come home, his checkout exam revealed cardiomyopathy. The cause was found to be a rare, mostly unknown virus called ciHHV-6. He died in her arms at 3 weeks old. After two failed adoptions between and after these losses, they went onto have a surprise pregnancy in 2015. Refusing all meds and working with doctors around the world who monitored her, their daughter was born overdue and healthy. Her story was published in the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation.
In 2014 she traveled with World Vision to learn about maternal health and infant mortality in Zimbabwe, and now is in school to become a trauma and grief counselor. You can also find her work on Babble, Liberating Working Moms, She Reads Truth, The New York Times, and The Huffington Post.
Lori Ennis battled infertility for eleven-and-a-half years before she turned to IVF and became a mother in November of 2009. Her first son, John “Matthew”, unexpectedly and tragically died in his father’s arms ten hours after he was born. Lori continued IVF treatments and brought home her second son, Samuel “Luke” in January 2011. In April 2012, Lori suffered a miscarriage and lost another little boy, Trey, at fifteen weeks. At that time, she and her husband decided their hearts could take no more, and their family was complete on this earth.
Lori is the former owner and current Managing Editor of Still Standing Magazine and is grateful to facilitate a resource that didn’t exist when her first son died. A writer with Mothering Magazine, The Daily Mom Military and Petguide, she is also a speaker, amateur photographer and former elementary teacher. Lori and her United States Marine Corps pilot-husband John are enjoying raising Luke in many different places, with the most current being Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland. Though Lori has a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies and Psychology from Virginia Tech, as well as a Master’s of Science in Curriculum and Instruction from Radford University, her favorite job is Mama, and she is beyond grateful for that privilege.
Franchesca Cox is the Founder and Creative Director of Still Standing Magazine. She is a former art teacher going back to school for her Master’s in Occupational Therapy. She has lived to tell the tale of what it means to grieve the loss of her firstborn daughter, and fought for the privilege to love life again.
She has spearheaded many little and big projects locally and worldwide in her daughter’s name since her loss, but she found the most healing came from living life to the fullest. She is the author of Facets of Grief: a creative workbook for grieving mothers, and Celebrating Pregnancy Again.
Rachel Whalen is Still Standing’s Graphic Designer and writer. She spends her days living and loving in the vibrant and charming state of Vermont. She has always wanted to be a writer but, for a long time, was lacking a story to tell. After some searching she has found her greatest inspiration from her family; especially her daughter, Dorothy, who was born silently on February 22, 2016.
Experiencing Dorothy’s death made her determined to keep Dorothy’s memory alive and to share her family’s experiences with grief, love, and all that comes with it. When Rachel is not sharing her family’s journey through the unexpected, she enjoys the little things in life alongside her husband, Mike, her daughter, Frances, and their fluffy, white cat, Edie.
Crystal is a mother of six: four deeply missed babies whom she carries in her heart and two wondrous living children who fill her with awe and delight and frustration (she knows how lucky she is to feel said frustration). Her path to Still Standing includes stillbirth, multiple miscarriages, infertility, rainbow babies, traumatic births, and the amazing bereaved families who welcomed, protected, and supported her since she joined the community in 2009.
Crystal loves her babies with a fierceness that’s emboldened her to be unapologetic in honoring what it means to grieve, mourn, and heal. Her children and the loss community inspire her to seek joy and to follow her passions. She currently attends a master of fine arts in writing program, works in marketing communications, and explores parenting, grief, spirituality, food, and semi-crunchy living.
Robynne Knight is a writer, educator, acupuncturist, and mother to her beautiful daughter, Zoë Amara, who was stillborn on July 25, 2011. After a healthy, full-term pregnancy, Zoë was born still into her mother’s arms after a traumatic labor and birth, with no official cause of death identified. This experience changed Robynne forever, as she was forced to carry the greatest love alongside the most intense grief she had ever experienced.
Along the way, she has learned to find beauty in the present moment, growth and healing in the depths of grief and loss, and gratitude for the connection and support of others who have experienced grief and trauma. Robynne started The Zoë Project in 2012, donating teddy bears to bereaved parents in maternity wards, and offering supportive resources and information to families who have experienced neonatal loss.
She is currently working on a memoir about her experience with loss and healing. She is passionate about helping others, and loves traveling, spending time in nature, writing, and practicing yoga.
