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| YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY! Remembering Lakin On September 10, 2008, the world stood still for Dana Schweitzer and, every day since, it hasn’t stopped spinning. This day marks the day that Dana and her husband Steve lost their 11-month-old angel baby, Lakin Ann, and their other daughter, Tehya, lost her sister and friend. “It’s easy to feel alone. Like we are the only people in the world this has ever happened to, but we’re not the only ones. It happens everywhere,” said Dana. The Schweitzers searched the Internet for answers and comfort until they were introduced to the Angel Babies Support Group that meets the second Thursday of each month at the Spirit of Life Church in Mandan. The group serves as a place for them to share stories of their babies, laugh, cry and remember. During her Internet research on infant loss, Dana came across the website www.october15th. com, the official site of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Photo: Dana Schweitzer remembers baby Lakin at St. Mary's Cemetery, Bismarck. Photo Credit: Mandy Thomas By Nicole Morrison-Mathern Works orks of art will be recreated in three-dimensional h d beauty. 16 thecitymag.com
The founders of the site envisioned a day when all grieving parents could come together and be surrounded by support from friends and families, a day when communities could better understand their pain. This discovery launched Dana’s mission to go to the N.D. legislators to get a bill passed proclaiming October 15th as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day in N.D. Her mission was successful, and Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 4014 was passed. (Ironic side note: October 15th is also the day Dana went into labor with Lakin.) Then Memorial Day came, springing a much larger calling for Dana. When Dana was passing the cemetery, she noticed all of the American flags marking the veterans’ graves, and thought, “Why can’t we do that for October 15th?” Her vision from that moment was to get a white flower circled with a pink and blue ribbon, a note of what it signifies and a poem attached, and place them on all of the graves of children ages two and younger in Bismarck-Mandan. This idea seemed fairly easy and straight forward until she found out there isn’t a map of where the babies are in the cemeteries (with the exception of the N.D. Veteran’s Cemetery, which is the home of six angel babies). So, on July 6th, Dana started canvassing the cemeteries; mapping the sites of each child under the age of two. So far, they have found 102 at Sunset, 345 at Fairview, and 585 at St. Mary’s, and are just starting at Mandan Union. With this discovery, Dana’s vision of marking each grave by October 15th seems overwhelming as time isn’t on her side, and she is doing all of this without funding. She has been reaching out to friends, family, businesses and the community for help. These minor details haven’t slowed Dana down and, as September 10th nears, the one year anniversary of her daughter's death, her mission strengthens. Ways you can help: 1) Light a candle at 7:00 pm on October 15th in memory and honor of infants who have lost their lives. 2) Donate white flowers, pink and blue ribbon, money or time. If anyone would like to help with this project, you can contact Dana at 701-220-9791 or schweitzers@bis.midco.net. Nicole Morrison-Mathern is assistant director of the Harold Schafer Emerging Leaders Academy at the University of Mary, as well as the co-owner of the 100% women-owned businesses, Moxe In Action, LLC, Entertainment Resources, and URL (U Rock Lately) Radio. You've Come A Long Way Baby is sponsored by: September 2009 17
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