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Michelle Reed Cantley is part of a national network of photographers who take pictures of stillborn and dying babies. (Photo by Marvin Fong) Parents Cherish Photos of Stillborn Babies BY SUSAN GLASER Hours after Connie King gave birth to a stillborn boy, a stranger arrived, carrying a camera. Photographer Michelle Reed Cantley entered the room and quickly went to work, posing baby Nicholas on the couple's bed and in the arms of his parents, hoping to capture both his beauty and his peace.         Mark and Connie King of Hinckley Township, Ohio, embrace their stillborn son,...

Detroit Police Investigate DETROIT -- A 6-year-old boy's 911 call for help was thought to be a prank, but the call was real and the boy's mother died, according to WDIV-TV in Detroit. Robert Turner called 911 to get help for his mother, Sherel Turner, 46, whom he found lying unconscious on the kitchen floor of their Detroit apartment in February, the station reported. "Then I had felt her tummy. She wasn't breathing. Then I had called 911," said Robert. "I told them to send an emergency truck right now." 911 Operator: "911. What's the problem?" Robert: "My mom has...

Help Freepers; Some dear friends just lost their baby due to miscarriage. I want to help them but being a single male I am clueless. Help please!

From personal experience I know how, when a person has recently lost a loved one, the prospect of celebrating Christmas can be daunting. The joyfulness of the Christmas observance diminished, at best, and, in some instances, overwhelmed completely with a renewed sense of loss. The following was sent to me at a time I really needed it ~ I post it here in the hope it will also help to bring a special comfort to any here who may be grieving this Christmas.

Cindy Sheehan, left, waves to supporters after arriving at Waco Regional Airport in Waco, Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2005. Sheehan has returned to Texas and her anti-war vigil outside President Bush's ranch near Crawford.

The liberal media is delighted with Cindy Sheehan. This is the woman who lost a son in Iraq and has camped outside President Bush's Crawford Ranch, intending to stay until the President speaks with her or returns to Washington. For the reporters waiting around in the dusty heat of West Texas, Ms. Sheehan is a godsend, a dramatic, heart-wrenching story that gives the media both a telegenic drama and another opportunity for indulging their dislike of Bush and the war in Iraq.

LONDON – In America and Britain, the grief of parents who lost sons or daughters in Iraq has become a potent political weapon - much more so than in other recent wars. In my view, these moms and dads have been badly let down by both sides of the war debate. The war's authors have offered little justification for the sacrifices made by loved sons and daughters in Iraq, which has allowed the families' raw grief to fester into public anger - and the war's opponents have sought cynically to exploit the families' sorrow for political ends. Currently, Cindy Sheehan...

Grief counselling a waste of time, say psychologists By Raj Persaud (Filed: 04/06/2005) Bereavement counselling - long considered by psychologists to be vital in recovering from the death of a loved one - may be a waste of time, according to a new study. The research challenges a belief that has been firmly held by psychoanalysts since Sigmund Freud proposed in 1917 that confronting feelings is the healthiest way to cope with bereavement. Many psychoanalysts have even argued that failure to express grief indicates - or may lead to - deep psychological problems. These days, bereavement counsellors often urge people...

12 Year Old Pitches No-Hitter,Day After Dad Is Buried Douglas Maher-All Headline News Reporter June 3,2005 3:15 EST BINGHAMTON,NY(AHN)- As Wayne Bonsell Jr. stood on the pitcher's mound at Booth Field on Wednesday night, he tried to remember all of the lessons his father had taught him. "Concentrate, take a deep breath before every pitch." This was not just another seasonal game for Wayne Jr.,this one held special meaning like no other before he took the mound. A day earlier, he had said goodbye to his father for the last time. Wayne Bonsell Sr., 39, was one of three workers...

In the months after her son took his own life in 2001, Rhunette Long began attending meetings of a self-help group for suicide survivors. At each session, attendees retold the specifics of their loved ones' deaths. Some had been coming and doing this for years. "They were sobbing, and they kept saying they were angry at the person who died," says Ms. Long, a 62-year-old retiree in Gilbert, S.C. Group members told Ms. Long that she'd need to go through her "anger phase," too. But she didn't feel angry at her son, and didn't believe that publicly reliving her loss...

An Open Letter to Terri 04/06/05 Dearest Terri, How can it be? How can I have loved you so much without ever having met you? How can my country have abandoned you and starved you to death? How can it be? I first heard of you on Catholic radio in 2003. Johnette Benkovic and Fr. Edmund Sylvia let us listeners know that a disabled woman might be killed merely because she couldn’t speak for herself. I began praying for you then, but suddenly the wheels of injustice had begun to crush you. Your starvation and dehydration began, and I wept...

A Glimpse Ahead Timothy Snodgrass The Impossible Will Come Alive In 2005 01/28/05 In January of 2004, as we began to intercede for the New Year the Holy Spirit gave us the prophetic slogan, "The Seas will Roar in 2004". This year we were given a new slogan, "The Impossible will come Alive in 2005". As the veil of darkness begins to come down over nations and regions, along with great shakings will come great breakthroughs; signs, wonders, healings and a spectacular release of miracles in impossible circumstances. This year, although we are ultimately poised to gain much ground, there...

Well, at least someone is smiling.

Theodore Dalrymple The Sob Factor Quiet grief and private dignity are now things of the past.11 November 2004 Three British soldiers, members of a famous regiment called the Black Watch, died recently in a car-bomb explosion in Iraq—the first British soldiers to perish this way in the terror-plagued country. For a few days, the British press and broadcasting media treated the event as if nothing else in the world mattered. The reaction was little short of hysterical, no doubt to the encouragement and pleasure of future car-bombers.As is now usual whenever tragedy strikes, the press and broadcasters went straight to...

Deseret Morning News, Sunday, August 15, 2004Grief, anger, love fill mother's heartCopyright 2004 Deseret Morning NewsBy Jennifer DobnerDeseret Morning News OREM — It was the Thursday after Lori Hacking was reported missing and Thelma Soares, Lori's mother, had gone to the hospital to see her son-in-law, Mark. Thelma Soares asks July 20 that the search for her daughter continue.Ryan Long, Deseret Morning News At the time it seemed that Mark Hacking had collapsed with grief over the disappearance of his newly pregnant wife. He was undergoing psychological testing at the University of Utah Medical Center and had been incoherent when...

Parents of slain Kim Seon-il broke down upon hearing the news of his death. Kim Jung-sook, a sister of Kim Seon-il, wails. Kim Seon-il during his military service (middle) Kim Seon-il's funeral in preparation His Alma Mater mourns his death. Parent of Kim Seon-il holding his photo Ambassadors to S. Korea from Mid-Eastern countries confering at Foreign Ministry Muslims walk by at a Mosque in Seoul, S. Korea while police are watching.

Beheadings cause Muslims grief By Uwe Siemon-Netto UPI Religious Affairs Editor BORDEAUX, France, Jun. 21 (UPI) -- European specialists on Islamic affairs fear that the beheadings of Americans and other foreigners in the Middle East will trigger a severe anti-Muslim backlash. "These barbaric acts have been catastrophic for the prospects of Muslims in France," said Bruno Guiderdoni, one of the country's foremost Koran scholars. "A discernable shift has occurred in public attitudes," he said. "Its most dangerous aspect is a new hostility even among the once-liberal French intellectuals against our religion." Two years ago, a three-judge panel cleared bestselling author...

MOURNING IN AMERICA? Many headline writers and phrase-makers are writing that much of America is "in mourning" over the death Saturday of former President Ronald Reagan. I wonder how true this is-- how many Americans--even those who unreservedly admired Reagan's politics and personality -- are experiencing the genuine grief and sorrow that we usually associate with mourning.

As a retired Army chaplain, let me side with the Department of Defense in its insistence that the family be the first to know the identity of any flag-draped coffin. It seems a simple, compassionate answer, but so many in the media have difficulty understanding it. It is important that everyone first understand the casualty notification system of the military. It is based on one over-riding premise: The next of kin gets first information delivered personally. In other words, one doesn't leave information of a casualty with a neighbor or friend and have them tell the affected family. One doesn't...

7 teenagers die in Millington joyride Why? By Chris Conley Contact March 1, 2004 A late-night joyride turned to tragedy when a 15-year-old crashed the car he was driving into a tree near Millington, killing himself and six friends. A passing motorist discovered the crushed car and the teens on Chambers Road, between Quito and Epperson Mill roads, about 2:30 a.m. Sunday. Police said they did not know exactly when it happened. The teens, all students at Millington Middle School, were dead when police arrived. They were identified as Michael Fradella, 15, the driver; and passengers Trey Hannah, 15; Lauren...