INFANT LOSS: Group to host remembrance event Monday

Published 8:00 am Saturday, October 13, 2018

Parents who have suffered the loss of a child in the womb or as an infant often have a difficult time sharing their grief, but a local group has a message for them: You’re not alone.

At 7 p.m. Monday, the Alabama chapter of the TEARS Foundation will host a ceremony for National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day at the Limestone County Courthouse. The courthouse will be lighted pink and blue, and there will be about 300 luminaries bearing the names of infants lost placed on the steps.

Amber Robinson, chapter leader for the TEARS Foundation of Alabama, said Monday’s ceremony represents the third such event and the second held at the courthouse. She became affiliated with TEARS three years ago after her second daughter was stillborn.

“I can’t parent her physically, so I keep her memory alive by encouraging others to keep their baby’s memory alive,” she said.

The purpose of TEARS is to provide financial assistance for infant funerals and grave markers as well as bereavement support for families who have suffered the loss of a child age 20 weeks to 1 year. The nonprofit group operates through donations and one large annual fundraiser, a Rock and Walk held each April.

Robinson learned about TEARS through Facebook and discovered Alabama did not have a chapter. She agreed to start one here, and it currently has five members. Robinson said she would love to see it grow with new members.

She hopes the community will turn out to support the event Monday, but particularly parents or grandparents who have experienced the loss of an infant.

For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2Cd6ciX or thetearsfoundation.org/alabama.