Love, Elijah
by: Kelly Airhart
One in four women lose their babies to still birth, miscarriage, or infant loss.
I am one of those women.
My son, Elijah Cain Eldridge, passed away this year on September 10th while taking a nap. It was the worst day of our lives. Elijah was our everything. He was the youngest of our four boys. He was my sunshine. He loved to be cuddled tight. He loved patty cake. He loved to smile. He loved his little nose “booped.” All he ever knew was love and happiness.
I miss him so much.
Since his death, I have gone through every emotion imaginable- but mostly I just feel lost. There is a lot I don’t understand and there is a sense of hopelessness that comes with that. It is a very isolated place to be, because nobody seems to know what to say or how to help. I also find myself not knowing how to let other people help me. It is an awful feeling.
A few days after Elijah passed, I made a promise to him. I promised to keep his name alive in kindness. I promised to spread his love around the world. I have personally committed myself to doing an act of kindness every day in his memory. But I wanted to do more. The more I read about other parents who have lost their babies and children, the more I noticed that all of them share a sense of loneliness, or disconnect from the world.
The death of a child is very hard for everyone, even those not involved, so many people don’t want to talk about it. This leaves countless of grieving parents feeling like they have no one to talk to. This shouldn’t be the case.
Grieving parents need some sort of outlet that lets them vent everything without fear of judgement. That is why I created the Love, Elijah Project.
Love, Elijah is a post office box set up just for mothers and fathers who have lost their babies or children to miscarriages, abortion, still birth, sids, or any other tragic event. It is set up for you to send regrets, secrets, happy memories, artwork, postcards, letters, birthday cards, or ANYTHING you would like to honor your babies and children who have been taken from this Earth too soon.
Love,Elijah
14900 E. Orange Lake Blvd #209
Kissimmee, FL 34747
(This is a locked p.o. box that only one person has access to…that person is me, Elijah’s mom)
You can mail in complete confidence that your mail will be kept confidential unless you would like to share. If you chose to share your letters or artwork (no matter what is said), please include the hash tag #loveelijah somewhere on your package and it will be shared on Instagram on our love, Elijah page (loveelijah0605) to help encourage mothers and fathers to talk about the loss of their children.
If you don’t chose to share, it will be much like sending letters to “heaven,” and all packages will be stored under lock and key in a safe place.
I have started a webpage to help raise awareness, and I plan to someday open a museum in honor of all “angel” babies and children.
I thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Say a prayer tonight for Elijah and do and act of kindness. Hug you loved ones close. Cherish every minute you get with them because you never know when it might be your last.