A Poem for Connie...written by my Grandmother

Not many people know this, but my Grandmother was also an angel mom. She lost my sweet aunt to SIDS, when my aunt was only six months old. She put her in her crib after she ate; and when she went in to check on her she was gone. Just stopped breathing in her sleep. She was a beautiful baby, my Aunt Connie- beautiful big eyes and blond curls. She was my grandmother's little girl; my mother and my aunt's sister; my aunt that I never got to know.

My mother recently found a poem among my Grandmother's belongings. My grandma wrote TONS of poems over the years. She would sit on her couch for hours every day. When she thought of something, she always wrote it down- and she would write it down on any scrap of paper that was within reach.  This poem that my mother found was written on a piece of cardboard. The writing is so lightly written in pencil that you can hardly see it; in fact, I had to read it with a magnifying glass.

Here are the words my Grandmother wrote about losing her baby girl--

God loaned a little baby to me,

For just a little while;

Then took her home to Heaven

to be with Him awhile.

Till we should go to join her

In that blessed place above;

Where we will be forever

sheltered in His love.

I love you, Grandma. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I never understood the tears whenever you spoke of her until I grew up and lost my own child. And now you are in Heaven today, dancing with your beautiful girl and telling my son all about me. Thank you for your love and your strength; because I know that if you could survive a loss this deep, then I can survive it too.

 

 

August 14 is Grant's Third Birthday in Heaven

We can hardly believe that it is almost time for Grant's birthday again. THREE YEARS. Wow! Has it really been that long? And yet, it doesn't really seem that long- except for when I get those urges to hold him again. Then it feels like AGES since I have held him.

Just recently I found a really wonderful idea on Facebook called "The Random Act of Kindness Day." I don't remember whose page it was on though.  I love the idea and would like to incorporate it into Grant's Birthday.  We would like for people to perform any random act of kindness on August 14. It could be anything really- whether it be letting someone get in front of you in line at the grocery store or paying for the person standing in line behind you at McDonald's. You get to choose what you would like to do.

We have made up message cards that read as follows: "This random act of kindness was given to you today in loving memory of a special baby boy, Grant Thomas Abernathy, silently born August 14, 2008. You can read his story at www.grantinghope.blogspot.com"  You may give this card to the person you have been kind to.

If you would like to be a part of helping us to honor our sweet little angel, please leave a comment here or on our Facebook page. You can message us your address if you would like a Message card. Thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/jabernathy#!/event.php?eid=142554292491060

Wishing you peace,

Sunday, May 1 is International Babylost Mother's Day

United in grief, together we find love and strength. Tomorrow is a special day that we honor all babylost mothers. If you live in the Phoenix, AZ area we will be having a special picnic and balloon release at Red Mountain Park, Brown Rd, Mesa AZ. The details of the event are on our Facebook page Here.

We wish you a beautiful and peaceful day.

Hugs,

International Babylost Mother's Day

International Babylost Mother's Day is May 1, 2011. This is a day set aside for mom's who have lost their babies. This is OUR Mother's Day...a very special day as we remember our angels and how we will ALWAYS be their mom.
Please check out IBMD out on Facebook. Here you will be able to find out if there are events being held in your area on this day. 

If you live in the Phoenix area, we will be having a picnic and balloon release. You can read the details and RSVP HERE.

As always- we wish you peace and blessings.

The Big Announcement

We are please to announce something entirely new and different that we have added to Granting Hope Ministries. We are now offering personalized handmade memorial jewelry!!
At this time, we are beginning with a beautiful glass pendant (complete with ball & chain). We may offer additional pieces later on, depending on how much of a demand we have for them.

Before I describe the necklace and what is available, I'd like to give you a little background about it. I recently reconnected with a sweet friend I went to college with. (Lori) As we were catching up on our lives, Lori told me a little bit about her beautiful jewelry project that she does with her daughter.  As our conversation went on, one thing led to another and now Lori has decided to partner with Granting Hope Ministries by handcrafting these exquisite necklaces! Lori has another friend who has suffered through the pain of infant loss and she really has a desire to do what she can to bring some healing for these families.

Here is an example of the necklace she made for me, in memory of my son Grant.

Inside the glass is Grant's name, written on the paper color of my choice. (I chose blue & brown b/c those colors make me think of Grant for several reasons) Next you will see his August Birthstone, placed beside his name. Five glass beads were

added to symbolize every member in our family, including our future adopted daughter. The heart you see in the second photo has his birthdate on one side, his birth year on the other. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how much this touched my heart. I will treasure it ALWAYS.

Please visit Lori's website to purchase yours HERE. You may customize it however you like- if you don't see something in there that you want, or you just want to add something else to it, please email Lori on her site and ask. She will try her best to accomodate your wishes. Keep in mind that you will also be able to open the pendant yourself and add mementos to it if you so desire.

We are truly grateful and honored to be working with Lori; and we are excited to be able to offer these beautiful necklaces to you. Our prayer is that they will be a source of comfort and encouragement to your hearts.

Yours for the angels,

New things are coming to Granting Hope!

For those of you who follow this blog, I want to apologize for the lack of blogging! I do a lot more posting on our Facebook page than I do here, so you may want to check that out too.

Today I am posting just to let you know that we are in the process of doing some really new and amazing things for this ministry! I have recently connected with an old college friend of mine and we are working on a project that will just blow your socks off! I also have a couple of my own projects going on as well. Life has proved to be very hectic for me- for one, we are in the process of adopting a baby girl; and the last several months we have spent doing different fundraisers for that. It's tough for me to balance both projects along with taking care of our house and our child- as well as the fact that I am homeschooling this year.
However, this does NOT mean GHM is going away...on the contrary!! GHM is here to stay- we just might not be as fast as other babylost mommy ministries are. Please understand that we are always HERE- so any time you want support, you are always welcome to ask. You can use the comments here; or our email which is grantinghope.ministries@gmail.com We are also on Facebook and quite active there.

Please keep this ministry in your thoughts and prayers as we move ahead to begin new things. We want our angel moms to be blessed, above all else. Thank you for your support!!