Hope Boxes in McKinney

7.1.14

     Maybe it was because I had gotten Kaitlyn's flowers the day before, but on Tuesday I was out at Baylor Mckinney (a suburb of Dallas, about 45 minutes north of downtown Dallas), and I decided to make a move. I had all these boxes donated through Hope Fellowship, about 25 total, and I had received some one-off requests for boxes to go to various moms that had lost recently. But I felt like it was time for us to really get moving and get a set of boxes put into one hospital for moms of loss at that hospital to have as soon as they lost their precious one.

     So, on Tuesday I decided to be bold. I went and sat in the chaplain's office and told him our story. I told him about our Kaitlyn, and how sudden our loss was, and how much Hope Mommies had helped me. When I told him about Kaitlyn, his eyes glistened a little bit.

     "That's my granddaughter's name..." he said to me.

     "Our girl was Kaitlyn Sophia, so we could call her K-So. It was pretty much the best name ever." I laughed a little as I let him process everything I was telling him.

       I told him about the boxes and how much I had appreciated the instant connection to a group of moms that understood. I told him that I wished that I would have been handed that resource in the hospital, because it was instrumental in my grieving and healing. 

      At the end, he said he would love to keep a stock of boxes handy for moms of loss. We ended up going up to the Labor and Delivery department on the second floor and he showed me the room that they keep all of the grief materials in. There was a small basket full of tiny clothes that had been donated by various groups, and the white Gideon Bibles that we received in our own memory box. They even had the same white, crinkle papered memory boxes that our hospital had, the only difference being that theirs was tied with a purple satin ribbon and ours was green. He told me that they would keep the Hope Boxes in here, and then we walked around to the main nurse's desk so that he could introduce me to the head nurse there and get her contact information. 

       J (full name not included because I didn't clear it with her, and because I already said where she works), is a young blonde nurse that has a lot of energy. When I walked around the corner with the chaplain, she stepped up to talk to him and he introduced me and told her what I was there for. She listened to Kaitlyn's story, and about Hope Mommies, and agreed that their hospital would love to have this resource for moms of loss. With that, I stepped aside and wrote out a note to a "mom of loss" that would go in the hope box I had brought with me. We decided that this box, which was lavishly decorated by my sweet sisters at Hope Fellowship, would stay in the closet for the next mom that needed it. Then J asked me if I had started reaching out to other churches to see if they would be interested in partnering with Hope Mommies as well. I told her that was my ultimate plan, but I hadn't had a chance to just yet. The problem with working full-time is that sometimes you actually have to work full-time. I'm very blessed that my work schedule allows me to visit all these different hospitals throughout the day, but it is still difficult when I'd like to pursue getting hope boxes into local hospitals with a little more vigor and things happen where I have to cancel meetings. 

      J also asked me if Hope Mommies help out with grief education at all with different hospitals. Again, I told her we would love to do that, but it just depends on the timing as to whether I could physically be there or not. She told me they had two classes coming up that were grief education and asked if I could speak at those about my experience and things that helped as well as things that hurt. I told her I would certainly pencil it in and we would try our best! 

      J (I told you, a lot of energy, and I love her for it!) also said she would get me the contact for her church's outreach ministry. She goes to Gateway church, one of the huge churches in the area that has several different campuses across the North Dallas area. I tried to pick my jaw up off the floor, because my sweet friend Amber Rhoads  sings at that church and knows our story. I was so excited at just the possibility of partnering with such a church, and couldn't wait to see what all unfolded from this.