A Walk To Remember

It doesn’t just take a community to raise a child, it takes a community to mourn one as well.

I once heard all spilled milk goes to heaven.

At first it sounded like something people say just to make a tired mom feel better.

Because if you’ve ever pumped breast milk…
you know the heartbreak of having liquid gold… gone in seconds.

But the other day I heard someone say the milk we spill here…
doesn’t actually go to waste.

It goes to the babies in heaven.

The ones whose mothers never got the chance to nurse them.
The ones who were only here for a moment.
The ones whose mothers left the hospital with empty arms and aching hearts.

And suddenly the spilled milk didn’t feel so tragic anymore.

Maybe somewhere in heaven there’s a quiet nursery… rocking chairs that never stop moving…
tiny babies wrapped in soft blankets.

And every drop of milk that hits our kitchen floors
or spills from our pumps is gathered up there.

Saving a seat for the babies who were loved on earth but raised in heaven.

So the next time your milk spills
and you feel that familiar frustration rise in your chest…

maybe take a breath.

Because maybe it didn’t go to waste at all.

Maybe it just found the babies
who needed it most. 🤍

Remembering your baby on the days that hit harder. The days that have no real significance, but you wake up feeling the heaviness. ❤️

Tonight, December 6 at 7pm in the Washington Park Botanical Garden, we will honor and remember together all of our babies at the Angel of Hope Candlelight Remembrance Ceremony. 🤍🌹

Whether you are present or not, your child is not forgotten and lives in your heart.

“Create a world where grieving parents don’t have to shrink themselves to make others comfortable.”

Today marks the start of National Grief Awareness Week — a week dedicated to educating, acknowledging, and truly understanding the weight of grief in all its forms. Grief shows up differently for everyone and stems from countless causes. But as a community, we focus on the kind of grief that is so often misunderstood and pushed aside: the grief that comes with pregnancy and infant loss.

When a parent, sibling, close friend, or even a pet dies, people tend to understand why you’re still hurting months or even years later. But when our babies die, we’re suddenly placed on an imaginary timeline that only non–loss parents seem to recognize. Pregnancy and infant loss is constantly generalized, minimized, or brushed past. So much about PAIL grief is still not understood — even in the mental health world. Many therapists and psychologists aren’t trained, prepared, or equipped to support parents navigating the death of their baby, and that reality says more than most people realize.

We also know there’s a deep stigma surrounding Pregnancy and Infant Loss. People avoid the topic because it’s uncomfortable — but that silence comes with consequences. When no one talks about it, doctors continue to miss warning signs. Parents don’t receive the support they desperately need. Funding for stillbirth prevention and maternal care research remains inadequate. The stigma keeps everything frozen in place, and it will stay that way unless we’re willing to confront it head-on.

Loss parents know better than anyone how uncomfortable the truth is. We live with it every single day. So this week, take a moment to not just learn about grief, but to understand the unique, lifelong grief that comes with losing a baby. Offer compassion. Offer presence. Say their babies’ names. Help us create a world where grieving parents don’t have to shrink themselves to make others comfortable.

And because this year’s theme is Growing With Grief, I want every loss parent to hear this clearly: growth doesn’t mean “moving on.” Growth is learning to carry love and pain side by side. It’s discovering strength you never asked for. It’s honoring your baby with every step you take. Your grief is valid. Your babies matter. You are not alone.

Sending love,
Hailey Ricks

Give yourself grace…that’s my motto during the holiday season. And remember, grief and happiness can coexist.

UPDATE: orders that were placed for a pickup option following the walk are now available for pickup at the Primo store located at 2417 N Grand Ave in Springfield.

*Please pick up between the hours of 9am-4pm