October 15th

Thank you to everyone who joined us on Saturday night to remember our angels....it was a beautiful night. I hope that everyone who attended was as comforted as our family by sharing the memory of their beautiful children.

Below is the text of the beautiful and touching words that Bianca shared with us.

Hello, thank you so much for joining us this evening and thank you for allowing us to join you in honoring your angels. My name is Bianca Juarez I am the mother of three angles, two lost to miscarriage and our precious angel Gabriella who was born still at 8 ½ months gestation on June 24^th. It’s been 3 months and 22 days since we said good-bye. Her death was so unexpected and remains unknown but even if we had answers the pain would be no less.

The day Gabriella left us she took a part of me with her. In an instant joy became sorrow, hopes became broken dreams, and our lives were filled with despair. My questions put me in touch with the insecurities and mysteries of life and the reality that we are not in control. I prayed for the ability to keep going, to accept the things I cannot change, to walk in darkness with faith in tomorrow. Everyday is a challenge to continue to move forward with my grief and the giant hole in my heart that will never be filled. A child is irreplaceable.

The unbearable pain of losing a child never goes away. You can’t just move on. This is a pain not even time can heal. We simply learn to make it a part of our lives. The grief continues with you forever. In everything you do and everything you say you remember your angel.

Gabriella filled our lives with joy. Her life was short but she has changed my life profoundly. Her tiny being has touched my soul like no one else ever will. She has made me a better person and a better mother. Gabriella has given me a relentless passion to touch as many lives as possible with her story.

Gabriella’s Angels of Hope was started because we wanted to bring awareness to Miscarriage, Stillbirth and infant loss. According to the American congress of obstetricians and gynecologists 20% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, 1 out of every 160 deliveries in the United States is a stillbirth, and in 2007 the number of infant deaths was 29,327. It’s very common but nobody talks about it. October 15^th is the national angelversary so we wanted to start a yearly candle light memorial for Gabriella and all her angel friends in our community.

Tonight we are all here to honor our angels. To let them know how much we love them and how very much we miss them. The burning candle will symbolize the flame they left forever burning in our hearts. Although they are no longer here with us, we will continue to take steps to honor them, to remember them, and to show them they are and will always be a part of our families.

Thank you again for sharing this special evening with us.

We are going to start on next year's memorial and hope that it we can reach many more people in our community.