A Letter to Parents


Dear Parents,

Whether you’re mourning the most heart-wrenching loss of your precious child, or you are pregnant and just learning that your much loved yet unborn child has a devastating condition and will not survive, please know that you are not alone. At times it may feel like coping is an impossibility. This is not the way you envisioned your life, your family, your future. Child death is something that happens to someone else…

Welcome to our community; a group that none of us wanted or expected to join, yet here we are – trying to find our way together. It is my most sincere hope that our presence can help you feel less alone on your journey. Losing a child at any age changes your entire person, indelibly. There is no going back to the person you were before. The difficult thing about grieving the loss of a child is that it does not end; you will not “get over” this. And it is not simply a matter of time before you will begin to feel better; time alone cannot heal the wounds of this loss. It is the work that you do within that time which makes all the difference.

Child loss has many faces, and it is our goal to support everyone unconditionally. Regardless of the circumstances of your loss – you are welcome here.

Grief work is a never-ending endeavor. It is a process through which you must travel, and hopefully find meaning and value along the way. It is possible to survive this loss; please allow us to walk beside you on this, a most difficult journey.

Sincerely and with love,

Corinne O’Flynn
Rowan Tree Foundation
Mother of precious Rowan Johanna
December 17 – 18, 1999