One of the purposes of Miscarriage Moms For Life is to (as resources allow) provide memorials (at gravesites, where available) for our children who died during pregnancy and were not buried. But why do we feel that is important anyway when it seems like everyone around us is so dismissive of our losses? Because memorials acknowledge that human lives matter—regardless of how brief they were.
Some points to the Importance of MEMORIAL Rituals
Memorials offer…
To learn more, read our book, Other Side Of Grief.
Memorials remember the deceased.
“It has been said that every life has value and every life makes a contribution to the world. The funeral/memorial service is a testament to that truth. Everyone deserves a funeral because every life is valuable, every life deserves recognition, every life deserves that ‘pause’ in our busy day to celebrate that this person lived and contributed,” Ken Kuratko, Grief Journey Consultants, Riverside, Illinois. Sharing our memories of (and hopes and dreams for) our babies both solidifies within us and testifies to others the value—the love—we have for them.
Memorials point…
Read our book, Other Side Of Grief, for additional information.
Memorials offer closure.
There is a sense of resolution, of finality, in having the deceased remains respectfully handled and laid to rest. Mourners are given the opportunity to (if possible) see the body one last time and say goodbye. There are laws against desecrating human corpses, yet women who suffer miscarriages are often told to just flush the toilet. In our hearts, some of us notice this disparity and we may begin to feel like the rest of the world thinks our babies are disposable trash. . .. Unless our babies are granted the dignity of a funeral. This point hints at Rizpah’s knowing it wasn’t right for her sons not to get buried and her unrest until they were buried.
Memorials…
Read our book, Other Side Of Grief, for this exclusive information.
Memorial invite others to support us.
These are just some of the several reasons highlighting the importance of memorial rituals. No matter the age, we love our children, and memorials are a way to express our love and gain comfort in laying them to rest. Even though many of us have been denied the opportunity to bury our children, we believe in the healing value of conducting these rituals symbolically. This is why Miscarriage Moms For Life wants to provide grieving families a way to memorialize their children—whether lost recently or 50 years ago—symbolically with a painted stone (read Why Rocks).
