A Walk To Remember

10/04/2026

Our babies opened up this morning with the perfectly pink and blue sunrise. (This was on my drive to the park to set up for the walk. A sign for me that the walk was going to be a very special morning.)

Then our babies closed out the day with a party and put on the most beautiful show in the sky.

A perfect end to a day full of honor for all our babies.

That’s a wrap for 2026 Walk to Remember Babies. 💙💗

10/03/2026

It’s October 3, and we are 3 days into our challenge to build a hope basket every day in the month of October, to raise awareness for Pregnancy and Infant Loss Month.

3 days in and from your donations we have already built 11 HOPE BASKETS!!! This is such a beautiful testament of coming together as a community to collectively share hope and love for our freshly grieving families. Thank you to all those who donate!

Today, at A Walk to Remember, we received 4 baskets (pictured below)donated by nurses of HSHS St. John’s Hospital Women and Infant’s Center. A gift of baskets built by the nurses who grieve each of these tender deliveries. 💛💜🧡

Please continue to help us through your support by donating, sharing and following Eighteen Collective.

10/03/2026

On October 3, 2026, we gathered at Washington Park in Springfield, Illinois for our 26th annual Walk to Remember. With beautiful weather, a meaningful turnout, and hearts united in remembrance, we are deeply grateful to everyone who walked, remembered, supported, and helped make this gathering so meaningful. Thank you for continuing to make space for every story and every life remembered.

SAVE THE DATE
October 2, 2027
Washington Park • Springfield, Illinois
Registration opens July 2027

09/16/2026

07/19/2026

Apparel is open for ordering and will close at midnight on October 17.

All shirts with baby names will now include the names provided at same day registration. ❤️

https://shop.primodesigns.net/155708/shop/home

04/24/2026

Local Nonprofit dedicated to providing Hope Baskets for every family experiencing pregnancy and infant loss in the Springfield area hospitals.

If you feel moved to do so, consider following and sharing in order to increase financial support to allow additional hospital outreach to the local communities.

🤍Introducing Eighteen Collective🤍

Eighteen Collective is a 501(c)3 Nonprofit Organization created to ensure no family walks through pregnancy or infant loss alone.

After our son, Zeke, lived for just 18 minutes, our family felt called to turn grief into compassion for other families facing unimaginable heartbreak.

Today, we partner with local hospitals to provide thoughtfully prepared Hope Baskets, offering comfort, dignity, and meaningful support to families in their most vulnerable moments.

We believe children are raised by a community… and when a child is lost, we grieve as a community.

How can you help:
💲Give financially: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=LK7LNKUVRUY4W

🎁Donate items through our Amazon Wishlist:
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1MZ0EJLCQ9V12/ref=hz_ls_biz_ex

Every donation directly supports a family walking through loss.

Because every minute matters.

04/04/2026

There’s a missing Easter basket this year…

Not forgotten, just never got to be.

No name written on it.
No candy picked out.
No little hands digging through it.

Just an empty space
where you should’ve been.

I think about the things I didn’t get to do…
the basket I would’ve made,
the colors I would’ve chosen,
the memories we never got to have.

I should be celebrating you here.

Instead, I’m missing you in a place
no one else can see.

Because to everyone else,
it’s just Easter.

But to me,
it’s everything that’s missing.

You are still my baby.
Still loved in every moment like this.
Still a part of me,
no matter what.

There may be a missing Easter basket this year…
but there will never be a missing piece of my heart.

©️Momming On Empty

03/17/2026

It doesn’t just take a community to raise a child, it takes a community to mourn one as well.

I once heard all spilled milk goes to heaven.

At first it sounded like something people say just to make a tired mom feel better.

Because if you’ve ever pumped breast milk…
you know the heartbreak of having liquid gold… gone in seconds.

But the other day I heard someone say the milk we spill here…
doesn’t actually go to waste.

It goes to the babies in heaven.

The ones whose mothers never got the chance to nurse them.
The ones who were only here for a moment.
The ones whose mothers left the hospital with empty arms and aching hearts.

And suddenly the spilled milk didn’t feel so tragic anymore.

Maybe somewhere in heaven there’s a quiet nursery… rocking chairs that never stop moving…
tiny babies wrapped in soft blankets.

And every drop of milk that hits our kitchen floors
or spills from our pumps is gathered up there.

Saving a seat for the babies who were loved on earth but raised in heaven.

So the next time your milk spills
and you feel that familiar frustration rise in your chest…

maybe take a breath.

Because maybe it didn’t go to waste at all.

Maybe it just found the babies
who needed it most. 🤍

03/06/2026

Remembering your baby on the days that hit harder. The days that have no real significance, but you wake up feeling the heaviness. ❤️

12/13/2025

To the parent whose heart is hurting, please know it’s OK to grieve.

While the holidays are a joyous occasion, a heartbreaking reality sinks in. The holidays are anything but joyous to you because you’re the parent of a child gone too soon.

To the parent whose heart is hurting, it’s OK to let your emotions run wild.

The holiday season is bittersweet. It’s time for family and traditions, but it’s also a reminder of your child who is no longer here. In the hustle and bustle of the season, so many of us shove our feelings aside.

To the parent whose heart is hurting, please know that you are strong.

You may feel defeated; your mind in a cloudy haze of grief, but becoming a parent of child loss gives you a strength you never knew was inside of you.

To the parent whose heart is hurting, it’s OK to be happy this holiday season.

For a while, you may feel guilty each time you laugh or smile. But over time, those feelings of devastation will subside, giving way to peace and true happiness.

To the parent whose heart is hurting, please know you will be OK.

It may not be today, tomorrow, or even next year, but someday those tears will give way to a beautiful rainbow, showing the world you survived the storm.