A Birthday Gift to My Community

Celebrating Life with Purpose

As I welcome another year of life, I feel an overwhelming urge to give something truly meaningful back to my community, rather than merely receiving. Today, my gift takes the form of this story, this truth, and this mission. I offer my heart in the hope that someone out there might feel seen, understood, and less alone.

A Gift of Connection

This is my birthday gift to you: an invitation to awareness, healing, and the initiation of a conversation that has remained silent for far too long. Together, let us dismantle the barriers and cultivate a sense of connection and understanding within our community.

Childhood grief is not a transient emotion; it evolves alongside us as we navigate the complexities of life. In the United States, thousands of children experience the loss of one parent each year. Yet the number of children who lose both parents before reaching the age of ten is so rarely acknowledged, just like the fact that so many children are navigating deep grief with no support. This heartbreaking reality means these children often remain invisible in statistical data, marginalized within support systems, and largely absent from discussions surrounding trauma, healing, and the critical issue of childhood grief.

My understanding of this issue is deeply personal; I was one of those children. At the age of ten, I lost my parents. At fifteen, I buried my grandmother. At sixteen, I buried a sibling. Layer upon layer of loss shaped my childhood in ways I lacked the language to articulate. While the world continued its relentless pace, a part of me remained frozen in those moments, a little girl grappling with grief too immense for her to comprehend.

Even now, as an adult, that little girl still surfaces. She whispers of loneliness, recalls the silence, and carries the weight of those losses. Yet she also remembers something profound: God never left us.

Through each tear, every unanswered question, and every birthday, holiday, and achievement spent without the loved ones who should have been there, He remained. He carried me through the years when grief felt insurmountable and through the years when healing finally began to flourish.

Now, He calls me to advocate for the children who feel unheard, to illuminate their stories, and to ensure they understand they are not alone.

Why Sacred Hearts Exists

Under Created2Serve, I launched Sacred Hearts , a program dedicated to supporting, uplifting, and giving voice to children and adults who experienced childhood grief.

Sacred Hearts exists because:

• Childhood grief is lifelong

• Early loss shapes identity, trust, and emotional safety

• Many “double‑orphaned” children never enter foster care and are never counted

• Their stories matter

• Their healing matters

• Their voices deserve space

This isn’t just about awareness , it’s about acknowledgment. It’s about saying, “We see you. We hear you. Your pain is real. Your story matters.”

Where Do We Begin?

We may not be funded yet, but movements don’t start with money. They start with truth. With courage. With someone willing to say, “This needs to be talked about.”

Sacred Hearts will begin by:

• Sharing stories of childhood loss

• Educating communities, churches, and caregivers

• Creating safe spaces for adults who lost parents or experienced early grief

• Offering resources for grieving children

• Bringing visibility to a group that has been overlooked for far too long

This is the beginning of something bigger than me, bigger than my story. It’s the beginning of a healed community.

A Personal Note

As I celebrate another year of life, I’m reminded of the little girl inside me, the one who survived what should have broken her. I hold her close. I honor her pain. And I thank God for carrying us through every season.

He has given me the greatest gift: another day to serve, to speak, to heal, and to help others heal too.

This is my purpose. This is Sacred Hearts. This is Created2Serve.

A Call to Action

If this story touched you, if it opened your eyes, or if it reminded you of your own childhood grief, I invite you to stand with me. Sacred Hearts is still growing, still forming, still becoming, and your support can help us reach the children and adults who need this space the most.

You can help by:

• Sharing this message so others feel seen

• Connecting Sacred Hearts with churches, schools, or community leaders

• Reaching out if you have a story of childhood grief you want to share

• Partnering with Created2Serve as we build programs and resources

• Keeping this mission in your prayers as we grow

Awareness is the first step. Community is the second. Healing is the journey we walk together.

If you feel called to be part of this movement, in any way, big or small, Sacred Hearts welcomes you. Together, we can make sure no child, and no adult who once was that child, has to carry their grief alone.