Treasuring Life's Blessings

October was designated as the month for Infant & Pregnancy loss awareness month by President Reagan in 1988. October 15th (this past Friday) was National Infant and Pregnancy Loss Remembrance Day. A friend told me about a local support group, the Sweet Pea Project who was doing a balloon release for all those who have lost babies on this day. http://www.sweetpeaproject.org/ Releasing balloons holds a special place for us as the kids each released a balloon to Noah at his graveside service. So we decided we wanted to attend this.

It was held at Long's Park. Thankfully it wasn't raining but it was pretty chilly & windy. It had been sunny all day long but as we drove there, it got cloudy. We arrived & got in line to get our seed embedded paper. This whole event was done very environmentally friendly. The special paper was biodegradeable and had wildflower seeds in the paper so when the balloons eventually popped, the paper that we wrote our note on would fall back to earth and the seeds would bloom wherever our note ended up.

We had several colors of paper to choose from but we all chose blue of course. The kids were very intent on their notes. I have no idea what the girls wrote to Noah as they did it on their own. Erik wrote "I love you Noah" on his paper as Kevin oversaw his effort. I admit I teared up as I wrote to Noah.

Here is a picture that was taken of all of us as we wrote our notes, you can just barely see a bit of Kevin & Erik on the right side of the picture:

After we wrote our notes, we folded them up and put them inside the deflated balloons we were given. Then someone filled them with helium and put a small string on. We were also asked the name of who we were remembering as they were going to read the names aloud. The release was supposed to start at 6pm but they got such an overwhelming show of people, it took a little longer than they anticipated to get the balloons filled. WGAL 8 was also here and did a small clip on the event that aired on news that night. We as a family even had our picture & names taken by the newspaper. There was also music being played by a local musician.

About 6:15, the organizer of the event, Stephanie Cole, had everyone gather. She said she was going to read each childs name off, and as you heard your babys name, you release your balloon. I about cried when Noah's name was read and we watched 6 balloons join so many other balloons. I was so thankful we were able to participate and remember Noah in such a special way. I should also add, right before the release started, the clouds parted and the sky had this amazing golden glow to it. I can't describe it but I could tell it was meant to be. Just a reminder that we DO have a special Light that is still there with us during this dark journey.

Here's a pic of Kevin & the kids right after we released our balloons, watching them drift to the sky. You can see the golden sunlight on the tops of the trees:

The other event going on Friday in remembrance was an international wave of light. At 7pm (your own local time), many people worldwide lit a candle in honor of all those babies who died much too soon. So at 7pm, we lit a candle in honor of Noah and our friends babies, Ryan, Hezekiah & Olivia who are all hanging out together in Heaven waiting for us. I can't WAIT for that amazing reunion!!!!!!!