Around the world at 7 p.m. on Oct. 15, parents and advocates joined to honor a “Global Wave of Light” to raise awareness of pregnancy and infant loss. Locally, 15 or so people gathered at Yelm City Park and held candles to honor their lost loved ones or to show support to parents who are grieving.
Sarina Emerald, an organizer of Yelm’s Global Wave of Light event, said Yelm city staff Line Roy and Cody Colt agreed to light the Yelm Water Tower pink and blue on Oct. 15 to honor the occasion.
“7 o’clock around the globe, people gather together, families, friends and communities just to show support and honor our lost loved ones. I’m just really thankful that this happened and that you’re all here,” Emerald said to those in attendance. “Thank you for coming out.”
Emerald said her grief journey began when she lost her son at the beginning of the COVID lock down in March of 2020 but found support through an online infant and pregnancy loss community. She eventually learned about the Global Wave of Light event, which she said is a prominent event on the East Coast and decided she wanted to bring it here.
“I’m looking to bridge the gap between the needs,” Emerald said. “I’m just trying to bridge the gap within our community just to help other people that might feel alone. It’s one of the loneliest feelings. Nobody should have to do it alone. People should have access to resources around the community.”
Along with spreading local awareness for pregnancy and infant loss, Emerald is also working on creating a non-profit to support parents experiencing the emotional and traumatic loss of a child. With the Around the Sound Remembrance Foundation, Emerald hopes to provide financial support and relief to grieving families seeking assistance.
“My vision for the non-profit is financial resources to provide mortgage and rent assistance to families that just aren’t ready to return back to work. It’s such a traumatic event,” Emerald said. “I read stories that some people didn’t get time off because their babies weren’t born alive, so they just got a little time to heal and then went back to the work grind. This is a need. It’s something I wish I could’ve helped with sooner.”
Emerald said she once saw a fundraiser hosted by a family going through a miscarriage, and the message mentioned the family was “seeking assistance, but life must go on.” That statement made Emerald realize that these families needed support, encouraging her to pursue creating her non-profit.
“It feels like I’m being led to help people to bridge that financial gap or any other support, anything that requires money. It could be a headstone, a plot, a burial, time off work, anything,” Emerald said. “To be honest, I have no idea what I’m doing. I just went down on Friday and decided that I was going to do this. It’s in motion, and that’s kind of where I’m at with it right now.”
Emerald added she’s still in the process of launching the non-profit but has secured the name. She said the process is slowly unfolding while she learns how to manage the organization.
Yelm’s Global Wave of Light will return Oct. 15, 2024, to Yelm City Park.
Emerald, along with co-organizer Jerry Toompas, said it will ideally take place annually to provide families the opportunity to grieve and share their stories.
“I’m hoping to light up all of the Puget Sound region pink and blue to shed light on stillbirth and pregnancy and infant loss awareness. I’m hoping that eventually the Space Needle, the Astoria (Column), those places will participate, and it’ll get people talking,” Emerald said. “I just want to shed light on what we go through, and that within the community we see that other people are going through it, too.”
