JULIA’S STORY…

by Kelly Gilion March 26, 2019

March 26, 2019

Julia’s Story

Many of you have heard me mention GracefulWait Ministry, a support group for women who struggle with infertility or are grieving the loss of a baby due to miscarriage, stillbirth or early infant death. What calls me to this ministry? In 2008, my twins were born after a 6 year ordeal with infertility. As we started trying to grow our family again in 2010, I had my first, and thankfully only, miscarriage. It was an early one, we never saw a heartbeat for that baby. But it was a wakeup call to me that even though I had been blessed with twins to raise, I still had not healed from the battle scars infertility laid on my heart all those years prior. It was then, that GracefulWait was officially started. Our first meeting was September 2010 and I was coincidentally very early pregnant with Anni, our third and final child. A bit awkward trying to lead women through infertility and loss when you’re pregnant yourself, but God knew what he was doing. And we’ve been meeting monthly ever since.

One of our earliest attendees was my friend Susan. She and her husband Scott had their 5th baby, a sweet little girl named Julia Faith, on November 6, 2009. After a normal pregnancy and delivery, shortly after her birth they learned Julia had an undiagnosed Congenital Heart Defect that would not allow her to survive. Just 12 hours after she was born she died in their arms on November 7, 2009. Susan started attending GracefulWait in September 2010 as she was anxiously anticipating the one year anniversary of losing Julia and needed support.

In early 2013 we started a local service project called Project Hope, where we created and donated memory boxes filled with items intended to bring grieving parents comfort and hope as they left the hospital without their babies, following a loss. Susan wrote a letter to these mom’s that we included in the boxes. Now in 2019, instead of boxes at the hospital, Project Hope looks a little different. Through a generous donation, we’ve been providing Little Lamb “Hope” Lovies to bereaved parents following their loss.

These lovies, with “hope” embroidered on the heart in either pink or gray, hold a special place on our sales floor but they are not for sale. They are available at no cost to anyone who stops by Plume to order. If the babies name and gender are known we will have it embroidered for them, also at no cost. Our customers are welcome to stop by and order these as gifts for a bereaved parent, or bereaved parents may come in and order one for themselves.

We’ve been told that having something soft to snuggle and hold is comforting to parents when they can’t hold their babies. These lovies are the softest and sweetest we could find and we are privileged to honor their babies in this way. I love that they are lambs and we also include this scripture on each one along with a copy of Susan’s letter and a packet of Forget-Me-Not seeds that can be planted in memory of their babies.

We are also very blessed to have a line of cards designed by Christy from Paper Baristas, in honor of baby Eleanor Rose. A little girl lost at 35 weeks to another one of our GracefulWait moms. These are $4.99 each and Paper Baristas donates a portion of profits from the sale of these cards to support women through baby loss.

We also have Paper Baristas line of Bereavement Journals,

and Brady from Salt & Light has designed these precious Angel Wing ornaments to not only remember babies, but other precious loved ones.

Most of the time, Plume is my happy place. But the 3rd Wednesday of each month…or on the days when these lovies are ordered…and I hear the story of another sweet baby gone too soon…or it’s time to hand them off to a mom with her babies name embroidered across the front…I shed tears and give hugs and I’m honored to participate in what author Angie Smith, in her book I Will Carry You, calls “the sacred dance of grief and joy.”

You are not alone.

I hope you are all enjoying Spring!

See you soon,

P.S. We’re open normal hours this week for Spring Break. Wednesday – Friday 10-6 and Saturday 10-4. Come by and see us if you’re having a Staycation or have visiting family or friends! We love meeting your people.