An angel in the book of life wrote down your daughter’s birth
~A Loving Grandma
Then whispered as she closed the book, “Too beautiful for earth.”
Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.
~Jamie Anderson
When a child loses his parent, they are called an orphan. When a spouse loses her or his partner, they are called a widow or widower. When parents lose their child, there isn’t a word to describe them. This month [October] recognizes the loss so many parents experience across the United States and around the world. It is also meant to inform and provide resources for parents who have lost children due to miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, stillbirths, birth defects, SIDS, and other causes.
~Ronald Reagan
A person’s a person no matter how small.
~Dr. Seuss
The Brown Star Story
~Kim Steffgen
Not long ago, astronomers found in the heavens gaseous celestial bodies – clouds of cosmic dust – which they think have finally answered the mystery of what exists between the small things in the universe, like planets, and the bigger things, like the sun. They call the cosmic dust “brown dwarfs” or “prestars,” because although brown dwarfs have all the same elements to become a star, for some reason they never did.
All stars go on to live full lives, from their hot, bright white dwarf stage to their aged, cooler and dimmer red giant stage. But “brown stars” only go so far. Instead of being born to live a normal star’s life, they remain cool and dim, hiding in the heavens, sprinkled in clusters among the other stars, one hundred fifty light years from earth.
But like our babies, their roles in the universe are very important. In fact, scientists believe they serve as a link between the small things and the big things, holding the universe together; a mid-point between the beginning and ending of our universal story.
As we grieve our babies who died before reaching the stardom of their earthly lives, perhaps we can find comfort in the possibility that they are designated for this very special, universal role. Energized by our lives, they are guardians of our memories of what was and our dreams of what someday may be.
As we look to the heavens, seeking answers, we send messages of love to our “brown star” babies.