Mark your calendar: International Bereaved Mother’s Day, May 4, 2014

Mother’s Day is a beautiful celebration but for some it is a day of lament. When you baby has died, Mother’s Day can be an ache in your heart that refuses to abate. I feel it. It is the longing, the irrational search, the hope against all certainty.

The love of a bereaved mother for her lost child will never fade nor be forgotten. It is this love that is unconquerable and lingers because of its strength.

Bereaved Mother’s Day honours the women who are still mothers – even if their child or children are not with them. No matter how early you lost your child or the form of that loss, you are still a mother. Please believe these words. Do not think little of yourself, please do not blame yourself.

International Bereaved Mother’s Day takes place on Sunday, May 4, 2014, one week before the traditional Mother’s Day. Bereaved Mother’s Day is an opportunity to gather with your support networks, celebrate your child, children and family, and talk about what it really means to be a mother.

Mother’s Day was originally created by a woman named Anna Jarvis as a tribute to her mother. Anna’s mother gave birth to eleven children but only four survived. A while after Mother’s Day was well established, Anna Jarvis spoke out against what it had become – a commercialized event where people sent cards but were too lazy to truly honour their mothers in meaningful ways.

Let’s make International Bereaved Mother’s Day a true celebration of what it means to be a mother. I believe that it is love which defines motherhood. Love is the ultimate act of grace, kindness, compassion and sacrifice.

I encourage you to spread the word about International Bereaved Mother’s day.

Download this free high resolution badge of honour.

If you know someone who has lost a child, I have made this image for you to copy and save to your computer. Please email it or print and give it to the woman you wish to honour.

If you are a bereaved Mother, please feel free to copy, save and post this image on your blog, Facebook page and other social networks, and send it to your friends.

Also, please join me on Sunday, May 4 as I post on Wanted, Chosen, Planned about what it really means to be a mother. I hope that we can have a discussion in the comment section and also on twitter using the hash tag: #stillamom (Find me: @_Alexis_Marie)

On twitter I will be talking about Bereaved Mother’s Day, the importance of celebrating mom’s who have lost a child, and why it’s important to challenge the social discomfort around the death of babies. Please join me.

As I always say, because I mean it with every part of my being: we are stronger together.

Please mark your calendars for Sunday, May 4, 2014 for International Bereaved Mother’s Day.

 

A fellow blogger, Carly Marie Project Heal, also writes about Bereaved Mother’s Day. Additionally, you can visit the event’s Facebook page here.