Mike + Merry Morris Compassion Fund
Donation protected
As many of you know, my sister-in-law Merry (Darby's sister) and her husband, Mike, suffered a terrible tragedy this past week when they lost their newborn daughter, Poem Grace.
Though there is nothing any of us can do or say to lessen the pain of their loss, there are some very practical issues which we can help take care of for them if we all pitch in. I'm starting this fundraiser because I don't want them to have to worry about medical bills and funeral expenses in addition to what they are already facing.
Their grief feels unbearable by itself, and since this is a portion of their journey that we actually can make easier, I'd love to see us do that. They're facing approximately $1500 in medical expenses from their stay in the hospital and an additional $3500 when it comes to everything you need for a funeral.
Also, we want to (1) be able to cover the GoFundMe fees, (2) create a buffer to handle any unexpected medical and funeral expenses that may crop up (everything so far was an estimate and I know that there can often be a regular trickle of multiple medical bills after a hospital stay), and (3) if there's anything left over Merry and Mike would like to start a charitable fund in Poem's memory.
Here's what she's said about the giving fund: "We'd like to call it The Grace Fund after her. For parents of stillborn babies to help with funeral expenses or at least the headstone or something. It's all pretty expensive.
All the money donated (minus any fees GoFundMe charges) will be given to them to help them with these additional burdens.
Both Mike and Merry have written a beautiful tribute to their daughter, which I will include here.
FROM MIKE:
Today at 3:50 p.m., our daughter Poem Grace was born at 2 lbs, 2 oz. Arriving 11 weeks early, she was perfectly formed and truly beautiful. We held her and spoke to her, and all of our love flowed to her. We saw likenesses of many family members in her face. Her tiny feet and hands were shaped just like Merry's. Her hair looked like it would have been light, like mine, if it had ever been washed and dried. We felt all of our hopes and imagined future days with her pass before our eyes and tear through our hearts. A nurse bathed her, clothed her in a pink dress, and wrapped her in a pink blanket. A chaplain came to the delivery room, and we had a little naming service for her. We took pictures because we never want to forget her. We held her more, kissed her, and said goodbye to her.
Through it all, Poem became a part of us, even as she had already been a part of Merry for more than 28 weeks. We will probably never know why she stopped moving on Thursday. At the same time, this doesn't matter because there is no reason that could possibly be good enough. I could write at length about Poem Grace — it feels like I've lived years in the past two days. But I'm weary and heartbroken, and sometimes brevity carries more weight. Thank you to everyone who has helped us during this impossible time. It's going to take a while to recover, but we will. We are surrounded by love, and the joy and energy of the one and only Gus Morris will not let us sit still for too long.
FROM MERRY:
My dear friends, thank you all so much for your messages, texts, emails, thoughts, prayers, meals, flowers ,visits and love over what has been the most terrible few days of our lives. Since people have asked I will write a bit about how I am doing. My brain is jumbled and I'm extremely weary so forgive me if it doesn't come out particularly well. As you can imagine, we are heartbroken in a way I never knew existed. I thought I could imagine, but I never fully could comprehend how the loss of a child completely obliterates a person. I could never even begin to know the pain and horror of laboring and giving birth to the most perfect and beautiful baby girl only to have to say goodbye at the very moment we were saying hello. It is excruciating. Many of you know that I had a difficult time getting used to the idea of being pregnant and having another child. We weren't trying to get pregnant and we had planned on Gus being our only child. Because I'm not good with change, I had a hard time letting myself really connect with her for the first trimester.
However, Through the past months I grew to love and cherish my baby girl and looked forward to meeting her. Hearing her heart beat. Feeling her moving inside me. Seeing her wave and yawn in the ultrasound. I was excited to have a daughter and was truly happy that She was mine. I let myself fall in love with her and really connect with her as my child. it feels like a cruel joke to have her snatched from us after falling so deeply in love with her. I feel like I'm in a nightmare. I feel like George Bailey who has seen the worst version of his life and now Clarence will let me have my baby back because I realize I truly had a wonderful life. But it just isn't going to happen.
Through this all I am reminded of God's love for me by all of the people he has placed in my life to help me through this. He gave me the gift of the most amazing nurses and Doctors from the moment I stepped into triage on Friday morning. They were the kindest people you can imagine. My amazing mom was there from about 10 minutes after I found out the news and and my beloved sisters flew in from California to be with me the whole time. They were all able to meet and hold Poem and mourn with me as I know they will forever. My precious dad stoically watched and played with his best buddy so that Gus's life wasn't interrupted too much. My dear friend, Laura was there with me the whole first day for comfort and completely took over all practical duties. Including care for both Poem and us. She has been doing the hard stuff for us ever since, including getting all of the baby items out of my house so I didn't have to see them and visiting me daily. And Mike, experiencing his own devastating grief has been my rock and support, mirroring my own pain yet remaining strong enough for the both of us.
We know the next days and weeks and months will be the hardest. We also know we will mourn in some capacity forever. However we do have the hope that in time the pain will change and we will lean on the hope that we will be reunited with her someday. Until that glorious day, we will love and miss our girl, always. She will will forever be our precious little Poem Grace. Our perfect little daughter.
Though there is nothing any of us can do or say to lessen the pain of their loss, there are some very practical issues which we can help take care of for them if we all pitch in. I'm starting this fundraiser because I don't want them to have to worry about medical bills and funeral expenses in addition to what they are already facing.
Their grief feels unbearable by itself, and since this is a portion of their journey that we actually can make easier, I'd love to see us do that. They're facing approximately $1500 in medical expenses from their stay in the hospital and an additional $3500 when it comes to everything you need for a funeral.
Also, we want to (1) be able to cover the GoFundMe fees, (2) create a buffer to handle any unexpected medical and funeral expenses that may crop up (everything so far was an estimate and I know that there can often be a regular trickle of multiple medical bills after a hospital stay), and (3) if there's anything left over Merry and Mike would like to start a charitable fund in Poem's memory.
Here's what she's said about the giving fund: "We'd like to call it The Grace Fund after her. For parents of stillborn babies to help with funeral expenses or at least the headstone or something. It's all pretty expensive.
All the money donated (minus any fees GoFundMe charges) will be given to them to help them with these additional burdens.
Both Mike and Merry have written a beautiful tribute to their daughter, which I will include here.
FROM MIKE:
Today at 3:50 p.m., our daughter Poem Grace was born at 2 lbs, 2 oz. Arriving 11 weeks early, she was perfectly formed and truly beautiful. We held her and spoke to her, and all of our love flowed to her. We saw likenesses of many family members in her face. Her tiny feet and hands were shaped just like Merry's. Her hair looked like it would have been light, like mine, if it had ever been washed and dried. We felt all of our hopes and imagined future days with her pass before our eyes and tear through our hearts. A nurse bathed her, clothed her in a pink dress, and wrapped her in a pink blanket. A chaplain came to the delivery room, and we had a little naming service for her. We took pictures because we never want to forget her. We held her more, kissed her, and said goodbye to her.
Through it all, Poem became a part of us, even as she had already been a part of Merry for more than 28 weeks. We will probably never know why she stopped moving on Thursday. At the same time, this doesn't matter because there is no reason that could possibly be good enough. I could write at length about Poem Grace — it feels like I've lived years in the past two days. But I'm weary and heartbroken, and sometimes brevity carries more weight. Thank you to everyone who has helped us during this impossible time. It's going to take a while to recover, but we will. We are surrounded by love, and the joy and energy of the one and only Gus Morris will not let us sit still for too long.
FROM MERRY:
My dear friends, thank you all so much for your messages, texts, emails, thoughts, prayers, meals, flowers ,visits and love over what has been the most terrible few days of our lives. Since people have asked I will write a bit about how I am doing. My brain is jumbled and I'm extremely weary so forgive me if it doesn't come out particularly well. As you can imagine, we are heartbroken in a way I never knew existed. I thought I could imagine, but I never fully could comprehend how the loss of a child completely obliterates a person. I could never even begin to know the pain and horror of laboring and giving birth to the most perfect and beautiful baby girl only to have to say goodbye at the very moment we were saying hello. It is excruciating. Many of you know that I had a difficult time getting used to the idea of being pregnant and having another child. We weren't trying to get pregnant and we had planned on Gus being our only child. Because I'm not good with change, I had a hard time letting myself really connect with her for the first trimester.
However, Through the past months I grew to love and cherish my baby girl and looked forward to meeting her. Hearing her heart beat. Feeling her moving inside me. Seeing her wave and yawn in the ultrasound. I was excited to have a daughter and was truly happy that She was mine. I let myself fall in love with her and really connect with her as my child. it feels like a cruel joke to have her snatched from us after falling so deeply in love with her. I feel like I'm in a nightmare. I feel like George Bailey who has seen the worst version of his life and now Clarence will let me have my baby back because I realize I truly had a wonderful life. But it just isn't going to happen.
Through this all I am reminded of God's love for me by all of the people he has placed in my life to help me through this. He gave me the gift of the most amazing nurses and Doctors from the moment I stepped into triage on Friday morning. They were the kindest people you can imagine. My amazing mom was there from about 10 minutes after I found out the news and and my beloved sisters flew in from California to be with me the whole time. They were all able to meet and hold Poem and mourn with me as I know they will forever. My precious dad stoically watched and played with his best buddy so that Gus's life wasn't interrupted too much. My dear friend, Laura was there with me the whole first day for comfort and completely took over all practical duties. Including care for both Poem and us. She has been doing the hard stuff for us ever since, including getting all of the baby items out of my house so I didn't have to see them and visiting me daily. And Mike, experiencing his own devastating grief has been my rock and support, mirroring my own pain yet remaining strong enough for the both of us.
We know the next days and weeks and months will be the hardest. We also know we will mourn in some capacity forever. However we do have the hope that in time the pain will change and we will lean on the hope that we will be reunited with her someday. Until that glorious day, we will love and miss our girl, always. She will will forever be our precious little Poem Grace. Our perfect little daughter.
Organizer and beneficiary
Jason Latshaw
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
Merry Morris
Beneficiary