Afghans for Angels chapter started in Maine

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Parents who experience the loss of a child through miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death are being offered comfort and support from Afghans for Angels, a nonprofit organization that makes and distributes baby blankets to local hospitals.

The infant is placed in the blanket during that most difficult time when the parents and family members must say both hello and goodbye, and the afghans then are given to the parents as a token of remembrance of their baby.

That information was provided by Faith Parks of Newport, who describes herself as an “angel mommy to three,” and who recently has established an Afghans for Angels chapter in Maine. The national organization was begun in 1996 by a mother who lost an infant and had only a worn receiving blanket in which to hold him.

Parks wrote that her new chapter has just three volunteers making and distributing baby blankets at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor for families who have lost a child.

“But if we can find more volunteers who can knit, crochet, quilt or creatively decorate purchased blankets,” Parks wrote, “we can reach out to other hospitals throughout Maine.”

Parks also would like to be able to “include very small hats, booties or gowns for the ‘angel babies’ should the parents want to see their children.”

“That way,” she explained, the infants “will have something nice to wear the parents can take home or use for burial.”

She wrote that such a loss is often referred to as “silent grief” because families often suffer that sadness alone.

“We would like to change that.”

October is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and Oct. 15 is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day.

Parks is working with a woman from Wells to have Oct. 15 established as a permanent day of remembrance in Maine.

Parks explained that among the ideas for such a remembrance event are a candlelight ceremony and a memory walk, and she also would like to establish a “memorial garden where parents, who were not able to have a burial, can go to reflect and remember their child.”

“Sadly,” she wrote, “there are few services available in our communities for these parents.”

Parks hopes anyone who is interested in this very sensitive project will visit her Web site www.angelfire.com/me5/maineangels/index1.html.

You can also e-mail maineangels@yahoo.com or write Afghans for Angels, c/o Faith Parks, 223 Williams Road, Newport 04953.

Janet Richards of Milo wrote her family “debated how to celebrate” the milestone of their father’s 90th birthday, and decided a “shower of cards would mean the most to him.”

Allan Horne celebrates this special birthday on Saturday, March 5, and although he has Alzheimer’s, his daughter said, he enjoys taking walks, weather permitting, loves “to watch nature, especially the turkeys that have been coming to our bird feeders” and, she added, he reads the Bangor Daily News every day.

Birthday wishes can be sent to Horne at P.O. Box 306, Milo 04463.

Did you know today is National Pig Day?

I didn’t, but now I do, thanks to Marie Davis of the Ellsworth Public Library, who invites you to be part of “Library Pigs Out,” the ELP’s annual celebration of this special event.

“Library Pigs Out” is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at the library, 20 State St. in Ellsworth.

It features many things pig, including books, jokes, stories, pigtails, memorabilia and a display-case swine shrine filled with toys, statues and carvings of pigs.

Pig story time is 10:30 a.m. and, for those who dare, there are free pigtails to wear.

For more information, call the library at 667-6363, and don’t forget to oink.

Casey Cote of St. Joseph Healthcare informs readers that the SJH Diabetes & Nutrition Center will host a bus trip to the American Diabetes Association’s 2005 Diabetes Expo, which is 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday, March 19, in Boston.

Diabetics and family members are encouraged to attend, and the cost is $26 per person.

Features of the Expo will include the latest diabetes products and services, lectures, medical screenings and testing, a Kid Zone, information from medical professionals, giveaways and prizes.

For more information, or to make a reservation for the trip, call SJH Diabetes & Nutrition Center, 262-1870.

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; 990-8288.