Back in March of 2015, we were anticipating the birth of our son, John Tate. He was diagnosed with Trisomy 13 just a couple of months before and, with that prognosis, we knew that his path to birth was going to be very fragile. There were so many details that we would have to plan ahead, difficult decisions we would have to make, and a knowledge that, even with the best laid plans, there was much we could not control.
As I referenced in my post on March 16th, 2016, we were blessed to meet Nurse Cathy who walked alongside us throughout our pregnancy with John and ensured that our experience with John in the hospital was the very best that it could be.
As a result of that experience, David and I felt led to pursue the potential of developing a formal program at WellStar to provide resources and support to families walking similar paths. We had initial conversations with the WellStar team regarding the potential for a perinatal bereavement and palliative care program in the months that followed John’s birth and found that they were very receptive to the idea.
Then, in November 2015, a dear friend of ours unexpectedly lost her newborn daughter shortly after birth. This hit very close to home for us and confirmed for us that such a program was very much needed and could provide incredible support, encouragement and love to other families walking the complex path of joy and grief as they meet and all too quickly say goodbye to their newborn children.
The initial working group for this idea, which included team members of the WellStar Foundation, a WellStar chaplain, Nurse Cathy, and myself, met multiple times to discuss the details of developing a program of this kind. The working group asked that it be named in honor of John, since his precious, yet brief, life was the impetus for starting this program. David and I were charged with coming up with the name, which was a big task!
I began doing research on other programs offered around the country, and I kept a list of words that were meaningful and spoke to the overall purpose of the program. One of the words that I listed was “Journey”. That word meant so much to us, as it was the title of our website where we chronicled our “Journey with Baby John”. David and I were driving back from Big Canoe and I was doing more research on my phone. I decided to put my phone down and just pray to the Lord that He would give me the name for this program. I wanted to honor John, but I didn’t want it to be named “The John Tate Bottoms Memorial blah blah”…that didn’t speak to the purpose of the program and I felt very strongly that the name needed to do that.
I literally closed my eyes and asked the Lord to give me the name. I opened my eyes, looked at David, and just said “Journey Through Bereavement”. He said, “oh, I like that, it’s really good!”…I then said “the initials are JTB!!” …John’s initials! It was such a gift from God! The name speaks to the purpose of the program, but it also subtly honors our boy. That is the first time in my life, that I can recall, where the Lord INSTANTLY answered my prayer!
In the months that have followed, and as a result of incredible support and partnership of WellStar, friends, and other families who have experienced the loss of children, WellStar Kennestone Hospital is now piloting its “Journey Through Bereavement” (JTB) program.
Just as Nurse Cathy worked within WellStar to help ensure that our experience with John was the very best that it could be, the “Journey Through Bereavement” program will help other families plan ahead as much as possible and, regardless of the situation, ensure that they are able to cherish every moment they have with their child so that they can look back on their child’s birth with a sense of joy and a contentment based in the knowledge that they were able to make the most of the time that they had together.
While we are so thankful that the “Journey Through Bereavement” program is allowing us to honor John’s life, it is also our hope that families who are involved in the development of the program and those that benefit from its services will find it to be a worthy way for them to honor the lives of their children.