Say their name
I love springtime, but it always carries a quiet ache.
The days get warmer.
The bluebonnets bloom.
And I remember the babies I couldn’t keep.
This is the season when I buried my children.
Rachel Marie was my hope for motherhood.
After years of struggle, I was finally pregnant.
Everything seemed fine…until my 20-week scan.
She had a condition incompatible with life.
In a week, she was gone. And I felt completely alone and empty.
A few months later, I was pregnant again—with twins.
A boy and a girl.
But complications returned.
At 34 weeks, I had an emergency C-section.
Brandon couldn’t breathe on his own. His lungs weren’t developed.
He lived for 19 days.
I laid both of my children to rest in a garden near our home.
I think of them often, but especially when the bluebonnets spread across the Texas hill country.
Today is Red Nose “Say Their Name Day.
A day to remember the children who were loved and lost.
An estimated 1 out of 4 pregnancies ends in loss. Parents carry this weight.
One of the most meaningful things we can do for grieving parents is this:
Say their names.
Honor the pain.
Affirm that their lives matter.
And they are still loved.
So today, I say their names:
Rachel Marie.
Brandon.
I miss you terribly, and I can’t wait to hold you again.
If someone in your life has experienced this kind of loss, I hope you’ll reach out.
Say their child’s name.
It matters more than you know.
