But There Is
October 25, 2012
Jessica Reilly
There shouldn't be caskets so small, they can be lifted by one man.
There shouldn't be lives measured by months, days, or even hours or minutes, instead of years.
There shouldn't be sisters asking to go to the hospital, to see a baby that isn't there.
There shouldn't be babies who don't get a first birthday.
There shouldn't be gravestones with dates so close together.
There shouldn't be parents left asking "Why?"
There shouldn't be cemeteries called "Babyland."
There shouldn't be a child who didn't get to meet her baby brother because he didn't live long enough.
There shouldn't be mothers leaving the hospital with empty arms.
There shouldn't be a crib waiting for a baby who will never use it.
There shouldn't be mothers who whisper Hello and Goodbye in the same breath.
There shouldn't be a mother crying when she sees a hospital, because that's the only place her baby lived.
There shouldn't be balloon releases instead of birthday parties.
There shouldn't be memory boxes that can hold every item from a child's short life.
There shouldn't be friendships formed by the bond of children who died too soon.
There shouldn't be parents who have to decide when their baby will die.
There shouldn't be a father who tries desperately to breathe life back into his baby.
There shouldn't be grandparents saying goodbye to their grandchild.
There shouldn't be a baby sister who has to meet her big brother through pictures and stories.
There shouldn't be a list called "What not to say to a grieving parent" because
There shouldn't be a grieving parent.
There shouldn't be.
But there is.
