People Spread Love has been an amazing organization and support during the worst year of our lives. When our son, Kegan Christopher, was unexpectedly stillborn 10 days before his due date, we were devastated. The pain that accompanied the simultaneous hello and goodbye of our only son is impossible to put into words; all I can say is it was, and continues to be, more soul-shattering than anything I had previously been able to comprehend. About a month after Kegan died, we received a package in the mail from PSL. It was a bundle of handmade cards from Girl Scouts in the Grand Tetons wishing us love and support.
As I sat reading each card, reading each child’s words of love for our son and for us, I had an almost physical sense of being folded into a giant, long distance hug. These were simply cards of presence – no questions, no judgements, just letting us know we were thought of and loved and most importantly, that our boy’s life and death mattered to people outside our home. In the cards was a letter from a woman who had lost her full-term daughter to stillbirth two years prior, inviting me to write to her personally. This correspondence got me through some of the toughest days of those first few months and I remain connected to this wonderful woman on social media today. As the one year anniversary of Kegan’s death and birth approached, we asked friends and family to perform acts of charity for others on his birthday in a movement my husband named “Kegan’s Kindness."
People Spread Love took this one step further, asking their followers to participate in Kegan’s Kindness and spreading his legacy of love further into the world. We continue to reel from his death, and the holidays are an especially tough time for us. While sorting my holiday mail this year, I came across a postcard from People Spread Love. It was a pre-printed card that simply said "There’s a word for people like you – ” and they had filled in the word “strong.” On the back was a heartfelt note of support and love. I am so grateful for the many beautiful ways People Spread Love have, and continue to, reach out to us. Losing a baby no one else got to meet is perhaps one of the loneliest feelings in the world – it means so much to know our son’s short life touched so many. Thank you for your continued love and support, it means more than you know (and we have saved every single card).