Let the countdown begin…
We encourage you to share the image above on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or your own personal blog! Are you ready for more exciting news? Director Sean Hanish and his wife, Kiley’s Return To Zero interview with Brooke Anderson of Entertainment Tonight is scheduled to air Wednesday, May 7th! Check your local listings for time and channel in your area.
What’s it about?
Based on a true story, Return to Zero, tells the story of a successful couple, Maggie and Aaron, who are preparing for the arrival of their first child. Just weeks before their due date they are devastated to discover that their baby son has died in the womb and will be stillborn.
The two attempt to go on with their lives but cannot escape their postpartum grief and their relationship has been forever altered by this loss. They try to cope in a myriad of ways– through denial, escape, and alcohol– but when Maggie discovers that Aaron is having an affair with a co-worker, she decides to end the marriage. Just when Maggie believes she has started a new life, she discovers that she is pregnant. With the help of an empathetic doctor who once experienced a similar loss, Maggie finally learns to grieve for her son and must reunite with Aaron to prepare for their second pregnancy.
Below are some pictures taken from tonight’s red carpet event for the Return To Zero movie premier in Los Angeles. OC Walk to Remember Board of Directors, Chair of the Board Elizabeth Pagliarini, Cofounder Kristyn von Rotz, Board Member Allison DeGeorge, Executive Director Ryan Farnsworth, STILL Project’s Carrie and Jonathan Pasquel, and CarlyMarie.
Late at night, I came across this picture on Instagram and thought it resembled how I’ve been feeling this past year. It’s been 5 1/2 years since I last held my only son, Kadan and told him how much I loved him. Every year, I have different emotions. The 1st year was complete chaos, nothing made any sense. I would just stay in bed all day and cry. To vent, I wrote a 7 page letter to my friends expressing my feelings, attended therapy and support groups to keep myself together. That 1st year, I will never forget. The 2nd year, I wasn’t in denial anymore and became bitter and angry because reality set in that I’m living here on earth without my son. I basically “let myself go” and ate everything in sight. I was just physically and emotionally exhausted. The 3rd year, I said to myself, “How did I survive all those years?” I was adjusting to living as a “new” Katelyn. The 4th year, I had a sense of peace and found myself crying less and started listening to my gut. My best advice is to listen to your gut. I don’t push myself too much. I still find it really difficult to attend kids birthday parties and baby showers, so if I’m not in the mood, I just don’t go. Trust me, it’s okay to let yourself feel a certain way, such as bitterness or sadness at that time. Take your time, and do what you feel is best for you. But, if a mom has had a baby loss in the past, without a doubt I’m totally on board and happy to celebrate their child than someone who hasn’t gone through a loss. Now, I am just so cautious of my emotions and tend to always ask, “Who’s babies are going to be there?” For instance, I attended my best friend’s New Year’s party, but left before those with babies had arrived. To be “happy” and celebrate the new year is still such a struggle. I’m upfront with my best friend’s and thankful they understand me without asking questions.
This holiday season I wanted to do something special for my little girl. I wanted to remember her in a unique way. I have done many things, including dedicating a little tree just to her, hanging her stocking up next to Nick, George, and mine, along with my newest way, creating wish ball ornaments.
I read the idea of making an ornament like this in Techniques of Grief Therapy, by Robert A. Neimeyer. Then I decided I wanted to make my own so I Googled it and couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for. I did however, find a wonderful example of a wish ball Christmas ornament so I decided to make my own based off of a Christmas wedding party idea I found.
Each year I have decided to make one of these wish balls for my wishes I hold for Nora (I included Nick’s wishes in the ball too). I wrote not only wishes but messages I want to share with her but can’t as she is no longer with us. Message that include:
“I want you to know I love you forever and always will.” and “Daddy wishes he could hold you.” Things like that and then I create this cool wish ball pictured above.
If you would like to know how to make one then just follow this 5 step tutorial. Let me know what you think and if you make your own send me a picture of it on Instagram, just tag me @Stillbreathinglindsey
Okay here is the directions. Enjoy!
Things to note: I used card stock to print out my wishes and messages to Nora on. I also included other sayings like her name and the current year. Oh, and it works best to get larger bulbs along with using a screw driver or pencil to help push the wishes into place once you get them into the ball. Finally, you could use colored paper along with adding tinsel, glitter, or other fun stuff, to the wish ball, but I like the clean look above. Your choice.
Good luck and may your wishes for your child too soon be captured in this memory wish ball each year.
Would you click your mouse 3 times a day for 2 weeks if it meant helping OC Walk to Remember earn $10,000? Beginning today, November 19th through December 3rd, Orange County Walk to Remember is participating in the Vote Your Thanks campaign through the Connect OC/Non-Profit Central. The non-profit with the highest number of votes will receive $10,000!
1. Click the link below.
2. Click the “Vote Your Thanks” logo
3. Search for ORANGE COUNTY WALK TO REMEMBER
4. Click to cast your vote!
It’s that easy. And remember, you can vote once per day through December 3, 2013.
All funds raised by the OC Walk to Remember are used to provide grief support for families who have lost a baby due to miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, pregnancy loss or other infant loss.
*Thank you for your help! Please make sure to leave a comment here on the blog letting us know that you have voted and you will be entered into a random drawing to win any three prints from the Small Birds Studio Shop OR a set of any 5×7 five cards. Shop link – http://www.etsy.com/shop/smallbirdstudio
You will be contacted via email. The contest will run through Dec.3rd and the winner will be announced on Dec.4, 2013!
We asked participants to send us photos from the OC Walk to Remember event and the emails keep coming in! You are welcome to leave a comment below with a link to an album you would like to share or email me kfuruta@ocwalktoremember.org and it will be posted here. Thank you! Displayed are your pictures from October 5, 2013:
Barbara & Aaron Dieppa celebrate Ava ♥
“Last year, on Oct 5, 2012 we delivered our daughter stillborn due to unknown causes . She was 6 months and had no previous problems. I wasn’t even sure of I could get out of bed this day and was anxious about all the emotions I would feel. But instead we got up, and celebrated the fact of how far we have healed, and celebrated the memory of our firstborn daughter. I am currently 9 months pregnant with our rainbow baby , Leila due on Nov 2. Your organization is wonderful, and has all the resources available and is helpful to refer others to who have experienced such a loss.”
OC Walk to Remember relies on donations to help the thousands of Orange County families who have lost a baby or will lose a baby. We need your support to reach our 2013 fundraising goal.
Our campaign ends tomorrow, October 15, which is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. Thank you to those of you who are working so hard to raise funds in memory of a baby or babies. The funds raised go directly to support families who have lost a baby to miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, pregnancy loss and infant death. OC Walk to Remember supports 28 Orange County hospitals, Orange County support groups, and national pregnancy and infant loss organizations. To learn more about what OC Walk to Remember does in the community, watch this video.
Donations are used to:
Provide medical professionals with bereavement training, so they can help families through their loss. So far in 2013, OC Walk to Remember has educated 79 doctors, 130 nurses, and 270 medical office staff.
Purchase books for local hospitals, so as mothers recover from delivery or surgery they have a way to read about other women like them that have survived the heartache of loss.
Print informational brochures in English and Spanish, so families that have experienced the loss of a baby know where to turn for support once they leave the hospital.
Purchase memory boxes, so families can have something to hold in their empty arms. The only keepsake we will have of our baby is the box we receive in the hospital.
Provide cameras, photo printers, printer ink, photo paper and other supplies to local hospitals so parents will forever have photos of their baby or babies.
Provide iPods and docking stations so medical staff can provide music therapy to families going through a loss.
Provide Orange County support groups that help families grieving the loss of a baby with funds to: hold reunions, distribute books, give small gifts to parents who have lost a baby, and pay rent and other operating expenses.
Run the OC Walk to Remember Balancing Life & Loss: Parenting After Loss Group for families parenting a living child while grieving the loss of a baby.
Provide families who have lost a baby with small notebooks, which become keepsakes where they can write about their baby.
Run the OC Walk to Remember phone, email, and website, so parents seeking support always have a place to go. Requests for support are answered by a social worker.
The funds will also be used to support a brand new program we started this year in conjunction with UC Irvine Medical Center: The Perinatal Palliative Care Program. This program will provide care for families who are given a poor prenatal diagnosis, meaning the baby they are carrying will die at birth or shortly after birth. The program will provide counseling, spiritual support, pain management, coordination of care from all medical professionals involved in the pregnancy, and more. Families who receive the heart-breaking news about their unborn child with life-threatening or life-limiting conditions are faced with difficult choices and have many questions as well as emotional, social and spiritual needs. The program will guide the family through this traumatic experience of learning their baby is going to die. It is our hope to partner with many more hospitals to expand this program.
Your donation will change the life of families experiencing the loss of a baby.
We thank you so much for your support.
Kristyn von Rotz, Cofounder/Board of Directors
Elizabeth Pagliarini, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors
Catherine Steen, Board of Directors
Kari Poucher, Board of Directors
Kristy Cornell, Board of Directors
Ryan Farnsworth, Board of Directors
Kristin Cyprien, Executive Director
Let the countdown begin…
Minnie Driver
