Help Cassie raise money

Content warning for talk of death and mention of infant loss. Please take care when reading. 

On my 32nd birthday this past spring, I woke up to text messages that my older sister had passed away in our childhood home. Although she’d been battling chronic illnesses since she was 17, her death took us, my parents and I, by shock as she’d seemed to turn a corner in recent months. She was looking forward and making plans for the future, like how’d she’d spend her 40th spin around the sun (our birthdates are three weeks apart). Life is so wild. 

I have so many questions that have haunted me about my sister. If I’m honest with myself I’d say I have always been curious about her, and what she was thinking. I thought there’d be time to ask them one day. In going through her things after she passed, I uncovered how much mental anguish she’d been harbouring over the last decade or so, and in addition to processing her death, I have also been confronted by the lack of access to mental health services that exist to people who have limited funds. I also learnt that she’d become fixated on butterflies in her last eight months earthside, and our childhood bedroom where she lived for the past eight years was covered in butterfly decals (see picture). 

Grieving for me in the months since she has passed has been to look for ways to reach her, or what I imagine are reach outs, services, and supports that could’ve helped her. Coupled with this coping mechanism and my ongoing work with families who’ve lost babies, is why I am participating in the Butterfly Run. 

The Butterfly Support Network (BSN) provides support and resources for infertility, infant and pregnancy loss, stillbirth, and termination for medical reasons (TFMR). On October 4th, I’ll be running 5k in hopes of raising $500.

I share this deeply personal endeavour, for a few reasons:

1) If you’re grieving someone or something, know that you are not alone. It sucks. I am sorry.  I am right there with you.

2) If you or someone you know are facing infertility or babyloss, BSN provides support at no cost.

Thank you for reading and for your support.