Sometimes it's about more than just pretty

I'll warn you in advance - today's post isn't all sunshine and lollipops. No, today it's dark and overcast here with more rain threatening, and I'm not just talking about the view from my window.

Tomorrow is October 15. It's a Saturday, which is lovely. It's a day to relax or get errands done, spend time with family, enjoy our loved ones, maybe visit with friends. But for thousands of women and men, tomorrow is also a sad day of remembrance for what could have been.

October 15th is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day, officially recognized in both the US and Canada. It's a day to help bring awareness to just how many people are impacted by miscarriage and stillbirth, and it gives people a forum, a channel, through which to speak about their personal experiences, should they be ready.

Last year, on October 15th, I submitted my own story to Faces of Loss for the very first time. It had been almost two years since my miscarriage, but for whatever reason I'd never put all my thoughts on the entire experience down in one place. Which is weird for me - I'm a talker. Generally I need to get things out, either by talking to people or simply by writing it down. So as October 15 drew closer, I decided that it was time. You can read my story here should you so desire.

Okay. So I've thoroughly depressed you. Completely brought you down on a Friday afternoon. Maybe I even brought up painful memories from your own experience with miscarriage and/or loss- sadly, I know there are more than a few of us in WB land that have navigated these sad waters.

But it's so that I can, today, bring attention to the meaningful side of what's available on Etsy. Because yes - sometimes it's about more than just pretty. Sometimes the pieces we buy or sell are incredible reminders of what was or could have been. They're ways to remember and to honour and to say that what happened mattered.

Our very own Buy Some Love has some beautiful pieces to honour loss.  Here are a few examples:

And while this shop may not be in our wee circle, I have to include this item as well because it truly touched me when I stumbled upon it. Shop  Having been through multiple IVF's myself, this necklace would have been the perfect (and subtle) way to map my journey by both celebrating and mourning a variety of steps along the way. Here's the description:

This beautiful locket was designed for a woman who was going through IVF as a way to memorialize her embyros. The hearts on the front represent the embyros that did not continue developing. On the inside of the locket "Always in my ♥" is stamped on one side and on the other side is a heart and a date which represents the date the embryos were conceived. (The 2 hearts on the inside are for the 2 embryos that were transferred but did not survive.) A swarovski birthstone crystal charm of your choice dangles in the center of the locket. Two additional hearts are stamped on the back and represent the 2 embryos remaining that are frozen in storage.

  

 

 

 

Etsy offers so much - so much variety, so many cute things, so many oddball things, so many useful (or not so useful) things, and yes - so many meaningful things.  Every day I'm glad I can be a part of it as both seller and buyer, especially knowing that items like this exist to make a day like October 15th that much more manageable.

Tomorrow I'll wake up, hug my husband, glance down at my own personal reminder of what could have been (I have a pearl charm on my Pandora bracelet in honour of my June baby), and do my best to think good thoughts to get me through the day.  

I'll probably hug my puppy too - that'll help, of this I'm sure.    :)