Why August 19th?

In the early hours of August 19th 2008 I dreamed of my son for the first time since he was born asleep on Australia Day (January 26th) of 2007. It had been just over 18 months since we had said hello and goodbye all in one breath.

I dreamed I saw my son with his two friends that had also passed away only a short time before he did. The three of them were playing on the beach together. As I got closer to them they ran off up into the sand dunes. They were laughing and from what I could tell they were having the greatest of times.

When I got to the point that they were playing I saw that they had written their names in the sand.

I felt drawn to the beach. To write his name.

On that very same day in Melbourne Australia a little girl by the name of Hope was born asleep. She was born at the very same time that I was at the beach writing Christian's name for the first time. Hope was a miracle. She may not have taken a breath but she was perfect and so loved by her beautiful family. Some weeks later Hope's Mother Sally contacted me as she stumbled across my blog post about the dream that I had. My blog post was titled Tuesday's Hope. Sally and I have been friends ever since then. August 19th, the anniversary of the birth of Christian's legacy it is also the anniversary of Hope's birth and death and therefore I name this day after her.

It was from the dream that my son Christian's legacy began. To Write Their Names In The Sand honours and remembers young lives lost. Since that day back in 2008 Christian's legacy has honoured over 11,500 young lives.

So on August 19th every year we will celebrate Christian's legacy and all children that are gone from our arms too soon. We will break down the walls of society so that the death of a baby whether it be through pregnancy or infant loss is no longer taboo subject.

We invite you to raise awareness by copying a Day of Hope Flower to you facebook, twitter, myspace, blog or website page.