Footprints on the Heart Annual Candlelight Memorial Service

Footprints on the Heart

Annual Candlelight Memorial Service

January 6th, 2011

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Sister's Hospital Chapel, 2nd floor

2157 Main Street

Buffalo, NY 14214

All the candles in memory of babies gone too soon

Mike & I lighting a candle for our precious angel, Baby Opoka and one in memory of Ryan & Jordan Brown for Kevin & Shannon who couldn't be there

Baby Opoka's candle
Ryan & Jordan Brown's candle

All the lit candles

Group photo at the reception after the service.
LOVE these girls!!!

January Night

Oh tender baby in Heaven above

We gather tonight to send our love.

See our candle down here below

Hear our voices tell how we miss you so.

Each timy flame that you see,

Each one speaks of a memory.

Tender baby, both young and old,

Your spirit lives on in our stories told.

Look down now and see the glow

Of the lights of our candles here below.

And as we gaze into heavens above

Then we will exchange our prayers of love.

Tender baby, this January night

In honor of you our candles light

Burning gently into this night.

~Author Unknown

Little Snowdrop

Little Snowdrop

The world may never notice

If a snowdrop doesn't bloom,

Or even pause to wonder

If the petals fall too soon.

But every life that ever forms,

Or ever comes to be,

Touches the world in some small way

For all eternity.

The little one we longed for
Was swiftly here and gone.

But the love that was then planted

Is a light that still shines on.

And though our arms are empty,

Our hearts know what to do.

For every beating of our hearts

Says that we love you.

~Author Unknown

To The Child In My Heart

To The Child In My Heart

O precious, tiny, sweet little one
You will always be to me,
So perfect, pure and innocent
Just as you were meant to be.

We dreamed of you and of your life
And all that it would be.
We waited and longed for you to come
And join our family.

We never had the chance to play,
To laugh, to rock, to wiggle.
We long to hold you, touch you now,
And listen to you giggle.

I'll always be your mother.
He'll always be your dad.
You will always be our child,
The child that we had.

But now you're gone... but yet you're here.
We'll sense you everywhere.
You are our sorrow and our joy.
There's love in every tear.

Just know our love goes deep and strong.
We'll forget you never-
The child we had, but never had,
And yet we'll have forever.
~Author Unknown

The Butterfly

The Butterfly

The butterfly is the hope

that the transformation

that loss brings into our life

can result in something different,

something beautiful.

We may not be the same

at the end of the journey,

but we have grown

and are able to see things

that we could not before.

~Author Unknown

Little Angels

Little Angels

When God calls little children

To dwell with Him above

We mortals often question

The wisdom of His love

For us heartache compares

With the death of one small child

Who does so much to make our world

Seem wonderful and mild

Perhaps God tires of calling

The aged to his fold,

So he picks a rose bud

Before it can grow old

God knows how much we need them

And He takes but a few

To make the land of heaven

More beautiful to view

Believing this is difficult

Still somehow we must try

The saddest word mankind knows

Will always be "Goodbye"

So when a little child departs

We who are left behind

Must realize God loves Children

Little Angels are hard to find

~Author Unknown

Nothing Loved Is Ever Lost

Nothing Loved Is Ever Lost

Don't think of them as gone away,
Their journey has just begun.
Life holds so many facets,

This Earth is only one.

Just think of them as resting,
From the sorrows and the tears,
In a place of warmth and comfort,
Where there are no days or years.

Think of how they must be wishing,
That we could know today,
How nothing but our sadness

Can really pass away.

And think of them as living

In the hearts of those they touched...
For nothing loved is ever lost,
And they were loved so much.
~Author Unknown

Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day

We Walk

We Walk

We walk in their memory, for they never could
We walk in their memory, as their families should

We Walk for the memories they did not e'er make

We Walk in the hopes, that our hearts will not break

We Walk to heal heartache

We Walk to heal pain

We Walk...

and know someday, we'll see them again

~Dawn Both-Kim

(Bereaved mother of Marrina and Ella Grace Kim)

They Will Forever Be Pure And Perfect

They will forever

be pure and perfect

As would be

a budding flower in

the vast garden

of our hearts

An everlasting bloom

of what might have been

Rooted deeply

in love and sorrow

We shall

remember them

~Dawn Both-Kim

(Bereaved mother of Marrina and Ella Grace Kim)

(Poem for the back cover of the 18th Annual Walk to Remember Program, '10)

The 18th Annual Walk to Remember

National Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month

During the month of October each year, hundreds of parents, health-care professionals and friends across the United States will be participating in a "Walk to Remember."

These walks are dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of babies that die each year through miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth or early infant death... and are a beautiful memorial to those babies.

In 1993, the Honorable Dennis Gorski, Erie County Executive, gave a proclamation that the month of October would, each year thereafter, be recognized as National Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month in Erie County.

Happy 1st Birthday!

Our Little Angel,

Happy 1st Birthday in Heaven! We wish, so much, that we could be celebrating your 1st birthday here on Earth, but God had other plans for you. And we know he only takes the BEST! Your Daddy & I miss you so much! Not a day goes by that we don't think of you. We are so grateful to have had you in our lives, if only for a short time. You have touched our lives is so many ways. We love you with ALL OUR HEARTS!

Love Always,

Mommy & Daddy

xoxo

A Butterfly Light

A Butterfly Light

A butterfly lights besides us

like a sunbeam...

and for a brief moment

it's glory

and beauty

belong to our world,

but then it flies on again.

and though we wish

it could've stayed,

we feel so lucky

to have seen it.

~Author Unknown

Heavenly Angel

Heavenly Angel

Now I lay you down to sleep.

I pray the Lord your soul to keep.

Within his arms he'll hold you tight.

My Heavenly Angel.

My Guiding Light.

~Author Unknown

Nothing In This World Is Ever Really Lost

We do not recover from the death of a child; we heal.

Part of the healing process is accepting

that not only has our own life changed,
but we are becoming different people.

We may look the same as before our child died,

but we look at life in a new way.

We have more understanding and compasion.

We cannot know why sad things happen.

We can only know that nothing in this world is ever really lost.

Because all precious things live in our memory forever.

~Author Unknown

Mother's Day

A Mother's Day Ode

I am your mother, but you, my child, I cannot hold.

It'll get easier with time, or so I'm told.

People may forget that I am your mother.

I'm part of a secret club we only share with one another.

But that doesn't diminish my love for you.

I think of you the whole day through.

I wonder what you're doing, my Precious Little One.

We are connected by an infinite bond which cannot come undone.

I will not let death tear us apart.

I promise to always keep you alive in my heart.

~Susan Mosquera

Dear Mr. Hallmark

I am writing to you from heaven,

and though it must appear

A rather strange idea,

I see everything from here.

I just popped in to visit

your stores to find a card.

A card of love for my mother,

as this day for her is hard.

There must be some mistake I thought,

There was every card you could imagine.

Except I could not find a card

from a child who lives in heaven.

She is still a mother too,

no matter where I reside.

I had to leave, she understands,

but oh the tears she's cried.

I thought that if I wrote you

that you would come to know.

That though I live in heaven now,

I still love my mother so.

She talks with me and dreams with me;

we still share laughter too.

Memories is our way of speaking now.

Would you see what you could do?

My mother carries me in her heart.

Her tears she hides from sight.

She writes poems to honor me,

sometimes far into the night.

She plants flowers in my garden,

there my living memory dwells.

She writes to other grieving parents,

trying to ease their pain as well.

So you see Mr. Hallmark,

though I no longer live on earth

I must find a way

to remind her of her wondrous worth.

She needs to be honored

and remembered too.

Just as the children of earth will do.

Thank you Mr. Hallmark,

I know you'll do your best.

I have done all I can do;

to you I'll leave the rest.

Find a way to tell her

how much she means to me

until I can do it for myself

when she joins me in eternity.

~Jody Seilheimer

The 1st Annual Wings of Love Parent's Day Breakfast

First Annual Wings of Love Parent's Day Breakfast

Saturday, May 8th, 2010

10:00 AM until 12:30 PM

Joseph's Country Manor & Grove

275 Columbia Avenue

Depew, New York 14043

The NEW Wings of Love Butterfly! My vision brought to life, thanks to Dawn Both-Kim

Programs

Butterfly net & note cards to write notes to our babies. Melissa Guido did a BEAUTIFUL job decorating the net & the notecards! Team effort arranging them in the shape of a butterfly!!


Mother's gift. Sterling silver butterfly pendant & neckalce donated by Craig's Jewelers.


Father's gift. Two 10 minute interior cleanings & two oil changes donated by Delta Sonic. Bucket of car wash supplies donated by Mike & I in memory of our precious angel, Baby Opoka.



The BEAUTIFUL unity candle

Joseph's Country Grove

Me reading the poem, A Buterfly Light.

Balloon release to Heaven

Chelsey, Molly & I. My Heart to Heart girls!

Molly & I

Mom O., Me & Mom

Fran & I. The most AMAZING nurse I know. She is a Godsend!

Christine & I. Chair & Co-Chair. She has BLESSED my life in SO MANY ways! I TRULY admire her for ALL that she does to help others! She is an inspiration! LOVE her!!

"A parent's love cannot be measured in increments of time... an entire lifetime of love can be squeezed into a few brieft miraculous moments."

Angel Baby

Angel Baby

A heartbeat falls silent.

Tiny eyes close.

A miniture body no longer grows.

Mommy is shattered.

Daddy is sad.

Fate has erased all the plans that they had.

Through all of the grief

that leaves their hearts torn,

There is peace in knowing

an angel was born.

~Author Uknown

Precious Little One

Precious Little One

I'm just a precious little one who didn't make it there.

I went straight to be with Jesus,

but I'm waiting for you here.

Many dwelling here where I live

waited years to enter in.

Struggled through a world of sorrow,

a world marred with pain and sin.

Thank you for the life you gave me.

It was brief, but don't complain.

I have all of heaven's glory,

suffered none of earth's great pain.

Thank you for the name you gave me.

I'd have love to bring it fame.

But if I'd lingered in earth's shadows,

I would have suffered just the same.

So sweet family, don't you sorrow.

Wipe those tears and chase the gloom.

I went straight to Jesus' arms

from my living Mother's womb.

~Author Unknown

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ~Matthew 19:14

An Angel Never Dies

An Angel Never Dies

Don't let them say I wasn't born,

that something stopped my heart.

I felt each tender squeeze you gave,

I loved you from the start.

Although my body you cannot hold,

it doesn't mean I'm gone.

This world was not worthy of me;

God chose that I move on.

I know the pain that drowns your soul,

what you are forced to face.

You have my word, I'll fill your arms,

someday we will embrace.

You'll hear that it wasn't "meant to be,

God doesn't make mistakes."

But that won't soften your worst blow

or make your heart not ache.

I'm watching over all you do,

another child you'll bear.

Believe me when I say to you

that I am always there.

There will come a time, I promise you,

when you will hold my hand,

stroke my face and kiss my lips,

and then you'll understand.

Although I've never breathed your air

or gazed into your eyes,

that doesn't mean I never "was;"

an angel never dies.

~Author Unknown