Finding the "Sunny Side"

It was an emotional few days that followed. We held a visitation for Sunny and then laid her to rest the following day: July 13th, 2023. While we had a very intimate funeral service with only immediate family members attending, Mike and I were completely floored by the outpouring of love and support that we received on the night of her visitation. While we know a lot of the support was for us, we were so touched that our daughter's brief life made such an impact on all those who attended.

Following Sunny's funeral, Mike and I had several discussions about how we wanted to honor her life. We both know the prayers, love, support and kindness we have been shown has bridged the gap between the harder days - it has pulled us through. I tell people that while I have days when I feel "pretty okay", I also have plenty of darker days; these are the days that don't feel good to stay in.

I know God is there with me through the dark days. He carried me through the fire and hasn't left me. I know I can't do any of this without Him. I want to forever glorify His name because none of this is because of my own strength - it is all through Him. This has sparked something big in me.

While God provides me the strength, I am also so humbled by our truly amazing support system: friends and family who have reached out, texted or stopped by and complete strangers who have heard our story and sent cards letting us know they are praying for us and thinking of our family. Receiving this profoundly beautiful support has sparked something else in us.

I can honestly say that burying my child was the last thing I expected to be faced with at the age of 35. One of the most heartbreaking things we have learned is the reality that a lot of families lack the financial resources to provide funeral and burial services for their babies following infant loss; especially in cases when it is unexpected. For this reason, some families forgo having traditional funerals for their babies resulting in delayed emotional closure or no closure at all. This, too, sparked something in us.

All this to say, we want to glorify God by pointing back to Him and we also want to pay it forward by helping other families who are walking through something similar. We know what has helped get us through our darker days - finding the sunny side.

Through The Sunny Side Foundation, our mission is to help other families by providing both healing support and financial support.