This Sums It Up...

The Cube
by Vicki Kennedy

Thank you so much Vicki, for putting into words why.
Why we're not silent.
Why we won't be silenced.
And why Honored Babies must exist.
Hugs, ~Paula

What is Honored Babies?

Primarily, Honored Babies is a support and resource organization for women whose babies have died. It also supports family members and informs the community, although that's not the focus. When a baby dies from miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, pregnancy termination, stillbirth, neonatal death, or infant death, it's not really the community that is grieving; it is the immediate family. Because the perspective that I know is that of a woman who has experienced the death of several babies, Honored Babies is primarily an organization for women. I really want to be of service to all of you, and I hope that Honored Babies, and its publishing cohort Honored Babies Press, help me do just that. With all of my heart, I am sorry that you are walking along side of me.

Why I Started Honored Babies

When my son Kadin was stillborn (July 29, 1998), I was in immense shock for many days (perhaps even weeks). Although I wavered there for quite a while, what it took was allowing the heart-wrenching grief to come so that I could begin to heal. When the grief came, and I began the arduous task of allowing it to all come, I soon discovered that for me to go on, I had to accept that there would be no healing; that there was only one important thing I must do...

learn to live with a broken heart.

As I began to read books and web sites, I found something missing: the "entire story." Without that, I couldn't find the connection to other grieving women I so craved. I had found hundreds of paragraphs reflecting a moment in time, but it simply wasn't enough because those few words simply didn't allow me to have that connection. Here I was, smack dab in the midst of it, and I needed some help from other women who had experienced what I was experiencing, at each and every moment. And, I needed to "hear" the experience sometimes at 3am, 5 days in a row, not at the once-a-month support group meeting. I decided to write the book I so needed. First, I thought about sharing only my story, but then I realized that my story alone would not provide to others varying experiences or any other view but my own. As I began to work on this site, I had only the book in mind. In the midst of designing and writing the code, I felt an intense need to offer a Memorial and Support Group. So, I did. And thus, Honored Babies, the book and web site, was born. It has since grown and evolved into a place of warmth and comfort to many.

Please take your time here, ask questions and share your babies and your lives. You are always invited to join the Support Email List, too (separate lists for Mothers and Grandmothers and many "breakaway" lists available).

Please share this site with those you meet or love whose babies are no longer with them. We all need to tell our stories.

My goal with this site is to provide a starting place for us to easily share information. My desire is to honor your baby... to give your baby a chance to sit upon the hearts of others.

Thank you for joining me and the incredible community of women here, and
Love and hugs to all of you...

~ Paula Long, mom to
Alexandria Kaelin Barr Long (born November 20, 1995),
Kadin Scott William Long (born still July 29, 1998),
4 miscarried babies (July 2000, September 1994, July 1992, November 1987),
and Christian Scott Kadin Long (born September 24, 2002, alive!)

September 11, 2001 Honoring & Links

	Web www.HonoredBabies.org

Honored Babies supports women whose babies have died, no matter the cause:
miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, pregnancy termination (abortion)
stillbirth, neonatal death, and/or infant death