Silver Lining: Mourning Baby Silver

On January 29th, sweet, precious baby Silver passed away unexpectedly in his sleep. He was almost three weeks old. The pain of that loss is so much greater than most people could ever imagine. If I could do something, anything, to help his parents… I just want to fix something.

The funeral home was very generous. They offered to cover the cost of the funeral. It’s such a huge relief knowing that James and Rose, the two wonderful parents Silver left behind, will not have to carry the burden of those expenses.

However, grief has many hidden costs. A survey of 2,000 grieving families revealed that households experiencing a loss spend an average of $13,000 in unexpected bereavement expenses (https://www.empathy.com/blog/cost-of-dying). Luckily, the Pena’s many loving friends, along with many organizations in their community, have asked to help. Because they’ve had so many people ask to donate, James and Rose have given me permission to start this fund.

I want them to not have to pay a dime for the therapy, childcare for their two living children, cleaning services, food, and everything else they’ll need to pay for as they grieve for their baby. I hope they’ll have enough to ask a babysitter to take over when they need time to cry, a cleaning service when day-to-day chores become overwhelming, and therapy to process the trauma of this excruciating loss. After everything they’ve been through, they need that time and space to heal. I hope we can give them that much.

Our family is so grateful for all the support and love that’s been given to James and Rose at this time. Thank you so much to everyone who’s been asking to donate to this fund.

- James and Rose’s sister-in-law, Paige Pena