SHARE Atlanta

Dear All,

Women's Group: Topic: "The Significance of You and Your Baby" and Mother's Day

We share our mementos, pictures and poems/thoughts about our special babies. Please bring them with you as you join us. We will also be discussing this important relationship and ways to cope with our feelings and intense pain around the loss of our precious baby. If sharing your mementos is not something you are ready to do (or if you don't have any or many) that is fine, too. We know that each parent deals with their pain differently and what you are comfortable with is important. Come and know that where ever you are is right for you. We will have special Mother's Day mementos and poems.

Mother's Day and Father's Day

Mother's Day and Father's Day are very difficult time for our parents. Mothers and Fathers, please remember that you are a very special mommy and daddy to very dear babies. There are ideas for approaching these days on our website and coming to the forum to share is always an option. We shared some of these options last month at our meeting. Our Women's meeting will have a special time and mementos for Mother's Day as well as some materials for Father's Day. Tammy always remembers the Dads at our Men and Women's Group in June. That group meets the first Friday of each month. Also, keep these links in mind:

Mother's Day Link

SA's Mother's Day Celebration 2008 Mini-Newsletter. Let's plan another celebration for '10! Let Marcia know if you are interested.

Coping Suggestions...Mementos, Ideas, etc. (Kim's bracelets and Dana's Portraits are a special ways to honor Mother's Day.)

SA's 5Bs: Blankets, Buntings, Bonnets, Bracelets and Booties 11.08 Mini-Newsletter- Consider making some items in memory of your baby for Mother's Day. Bring them to a meeting or to Marcia's home to make sure they have SA information in them and we will distribute them to hospitals.

"Healing & Making Our Child's Presence Meaningful"

Father's Grief Menu and Father's Day Pages

Our March of Dimes' "Walk to Remember" was a huge success. THANkS TO ALL who supported us!!! Advocacy and Awareness!!!

We are approaching 30,000! It will take over $30,000 to earn our MODS' Chairman's TENT so we can administer to grieving parents during the March of Dime's Walk next year. That number might make it possible to be in the Top Ten National Family Teams. It is not too late to donate. If you wish to help us, donate either to a team member or to our team from our online Team page. Consider taking some time and reading the stories of the families that walked. We will have pictures soon!

Visit SA's Team Page. Thanks to ALL who sponsored or cheered on our walkers! It is all for Healthy Babies as we remember our special babies.

SHARE Atlanta's Members have been BUSY the last 6 Months..Advocacy and Awareness!!!

We have had two inservices with Well Star Development Center. We presented my program "Circle of Healing" for the 8th time. Our inservices focus on a family's initial grief as they learn of their baby's death or impending death. SA parents join me as we show my power point about parent grief and SHARE Atlanta. We average between 30 and 80 nurses, chaplains, and/or social workers at each presentation. They come from all over GA, but mostly from about 18 local hospitals. We always give our blanket packets as door prizes, and they are well received. SA's Lynne Anderson did a one hour presentation at Cobb Hospital on April 30 about Initial Parent Grief. She used our materials from my "Circle of Healing" in that presentation.

SA's Coretta Monroe did an presentation for a perinatal conference last week that was very well received! She presented her personal story, her journey for healing, and how SHARE Atlanta helped her.

In the NEWS Betty and Brian Miller did a TV interview and Heather Haney had her Blanket presentation in her local newspaper. We will be highlighting these members soon.

CBRS

Parents continue to ask about the CBRS. The bill was signed by Gov. Perdue in May 2008 after SA's Erin Dickerson and I with the support of SHARE Atlanta families and friends got the law passed. We did it in ONE legislative session!! We continue to work with parents and the Office of Vital Records to smooth out the process for receiving one. Please let us know IF you have received yours and how long it took and what you were asked to do. We are trying to make sure the law is being followed.

Printable GA CBRS 1 Page Information Sheet by Marcia and Erin (We are both members of SHARE Atlanta.)

How to receive a CBRS. Information about the CBRS

Our group is a group because of the parents who join us.

Come join our forum...you can join IN the discussion or just visit and see what we are "talkin' about"!!

SA's Meetings, Dates, Directions

We care about each other and support each other as we move through the grieving process in order to heal. We each bring to the group our own life story, our baby's story, and our grief. Together we work to make our grief "doable" so we can survive the tragic death of our babies. We learn ways to cope. We begin to see that life does gradually become easier to cope with. Together we support each other through our grief as we gradually heal.

Take care,

Marcia

The love stays...forever in our hearts.

Pregnancy and Newborn Loss Awareness Pin
Available at our events and groups.