Gracefully Broken: The Legacy of Ellie Love

I don't have a lot to say today. I've had so many things on my heart over the past week, but I'm having a hard time figuring out where to even start or how to break it up so I'm not writing a novel instead of a blog post. 😂 So I'm going to keep it short and sweet today. July is National Bereaved Parents Month. All month long, I've been wanting to highlight different issues that bereaved parents face, but like I said, I couldn't figure out how to start, and now here we are on July 27th. I have no idea where the month has gone, so I decided to just jump write in and share what's on my heart, hoping it will make some sense.  I know one of the most common questions or problems for people who have never lost a child is not knowing what to do or say to a grieving friend. People want to help, but they just don't know what to say. Sometimes they even end up saying nothing because they are so afraid of saying the wrong thing. This can lead to hurt and e...

Whew! It's been a ROUGH 2 weeks. Whoever said that there are stages of grief that everyone goes through in a linear fashion is a big fat liar. I think this picture is far more accurate portrayal of what grief is actually like (at least for me): These past 2 weeks have brought several big milestones. July 3rd was Ellie's 8 month birthday. July 4th was another "first" in a year of holidays spent without our girl. It was also the first major holiday since we lost Lizzie. I should be posting pictures of my 3 babies and growing baby bump dressed in red, white and blue like everyone else on social media. But instead, I felt like I was dying inside thinking about all the "should be's." July 5th was 2 months since Lizzie was born far too soon. Then finally, yesterday was 8 months since Ellie went to heaven. I feel like I can breathe again. For a couple of weeks, anyway, until the next wave of milestones hit. Not every month knocks the wind out of me qui...