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The Sorrow in Mother’s Day – International Bereaved Mother’s Day 2017

Mother’s Day isn’t always a day to celebrate for many. For a mother with a child in Heaven, Mother’s Day can be a day filled with tears, questions, regrets, and yearning to return to a life that once included a precious child. Tomorrow, International Bereaved Mother’s Day, is a day set aside to recognize the many mothers who survive their own children and walk an earthly journey no parent wishes to travel.

Ann Jarvis, the founder of Mother’s Day, hoped for a day to celebrate and honor women – a day where all women could work together to propel faith and peace throughout the world. On May 10, 1908, just three years after Ann’s own mother died, the first official Mother’s Day was held in West Virginia. Today, much of the true meaning of Mother’s Day is lost in the commercialization of cards, flowers, and gifts. International Bereaved Mother’s Day is a day intended for all bereaved parents to come together to recognize the sorrow that is now, and forevermore, a part of earthly life. It is also a day to honor and celebrate the great faith and courage it takes to live a life of peace and joy while also carrying earth’s greatest sorrow.

Ideas to help another bereaved mother honor her child on International Bereaved Mother’s Day:

• SAY the name of a child gone too soon. Tell her you remember and honor her child.
• Send a text or note saying, “Just thinking of you today.” I promise it will mean a thousand words.
• Plant something in your own backyard as a gift to a bereaved mother in honor of a child. Send a photo when finished.
• Tell another bereaved mother that you SEE her sorrow and her courage to live after child loss. It is such a heartbreaking journey.
• Pray for a bereaved mother and family. Where two or more are gathered, there is strength in eternal hope and reunion.

Since 2010, International Bereaved Mother’s Day is celebrated on the first Sunday in May. I will use the day to grieve the loss of a life that cannot be for me or my family who survives my oldest daughter. I will also take time to celebrate the gift she was, and forever remains, to my life. I love my daughter in death as in life. Our children forever remain tied to our very soul. I will also use the day to connect with the many friends I have met after child loss. To each bereaved mother, I SEE you and the sorrow you carry. Tomorrow and every day, I honor your courage. I wish you earthly peace and faith as we remember our children and continue to walk forward with love.

If you know of another mother who has lost a child, my own journey after the sudden loss of my first born daughter is documented in Forever Namaste. Please share to encourage other bereaved mothers who walk forward with earth’s sorrows.