I've been meaning to write about our trip to
Faith's Lodge for awhile. If you're not familiar with Faith's Lodge, here is a brief description from their website:
"Faith's Lodge provides a place where parents and families facing the serious illness or death of a child can retreat to reflect on the past, renew strength for the present, and build hope for the future. In its North Woods setting, Faith's Lodge provides a peaceful escape for families to refresh their minds and spirits while spending time with others who understand what they are experiencing."
Faith's Lodge was established by Susan and Mark Lacek in memory of their baby girl, Faith, who died in June of 2000 from a cord accident. It is located on an 80 acre property in northern Wisconsin. Parents and families who have either lost a child in the past three years or who currently have a child with a serious illness may apply to stay there for up to five nights. There are different programs throughout the year, so that the week you attend, you will be among other couples or families who have faced a similar type of loss.
For example, we were there for the "infant loss" weekend of September 13-16, along with seven other couples who had all lost babies (either stillbirth or neonatal loss) in the past three years. We haven't had the chance to attend any events in the babyloss community yet, so this trip so far, has been our only experience with meeting a group of other BL parents.
Our group was diverse. Couples ranged from late teens to late 30's and losses occurred as early as 20 weeks GA to as late as 2 1/2 months old. All of our stories and situations were different and yet we were able to bond over our grief for the children we lost and our common devotion to keeping their memories alive.
During our time there, we spent a lot of time doing group activities such as painting heart-shaped rocks with our babies' names, decorating journals, making garden stones and painting birdhouses. We also had evening bonfires where we would gather, toast marshmallows and share stories.
We found comfort, support, and hope at Faith's Lodge. We got to be around people who understood how we felt, who wanted to hear about our son, and who didn't think we were crazy. It was nice to feel normal for a change.
The thing I liked most about Faith's Lodge was that we got to spend so much time honoring and remembering the children we've lost. It felt so healing to be able to talk about Gabriel and to work on crafts in his memory. The entire time, I felt like I was in a sacred place where babies and children are never forgotten.
The whole weekend was so much fun and it flew by so quickly. Nobody wanted to leave and go back to reality. I wish we could have stayed there forever, but in order for others to be able to go, we knew we had to leave.
Our time at Faith's Lodge lasted just a few days, but we hope to have made long-lasting friendships and to be able to hold onto beautiful memories for the rest of our lives.
If you ever get the chance to go, I highly recommend it.
Now for pictures... because it's impossible to describe just how breathtaking this place is!
The small heart-shaped rocks given to us to provide comfort during our group meeting. I'm using these as a representation of our group because I don't feel comfortable sharing pictures of other people.
Faith's Lodge:
The outside of Faith's Lodge:
We woke up early every morning to watch the magnificent sunrise over the lake. This is the view from our balcony:
Watching a beautiful sunrise from the bench swing in front of the lake. So peaceful!
8 dandelions to represent our 8 children:
Sophia's Bridge - where most people leave their children's rocks:
Standing on Sophia's Bridge
The garden stone we made in remembrance of Gabriel:
Corrado holding the sign he made during the mens' woodworking activity:
The angel statue garden where we left Gabriel's rock:
The heart-shaped rock we painted with Gabriel's name and birthdate
A tree in the forest at Faith's Lodge:
The steps leading down to the path in front of the lake:
The table where we shared pictures of our babies:
The common room where we would talk and play board games:
Toasting marshmallows at the bonfire:
One last picture in front of Faith's Lodge, right before we left:
To learn more about Faith's Lodge, please visit their website: www.faithslodge.org
