My dear friend Lisa has shared so much with me about the deepest sorrow that a parent can experience: the loss of a child. When Lisa and her lovely husband welcomed their son, Rowan, they were grateful to share a few breaths earthside with him.
Years later, Lisa struggles to describe losing Rowan. As she reflects, "What word is there, really, to describe the experience of deeply loving someone you had never met but know better than anyone who had come before?" Lisa generously shares her experience of profound loss to help other women know that if they are recovering from infant loss—or the loss of a child at any age—their loss is valid; their pain is real.
As Lisa reminds us, grief isn't something you get over. It is something you move through.
Lisa isn't looking for closure over losing Rowan; she doesn't believe she will ever have it. She knows that every year, the changing of the seasons, the anniversary of his death, and the date he was due to come into the world will be marked in her heart.
She will hold the sacred memories of feeling his skin against hers. Forever.