08/30/2026
Today is National Grief Awareness Day and International Bereaved Father’s Day. Sending love to all the Dad’s whose love spans Heaven and Earth. Our heart goes out to you.
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“A Father’s love cannot be measured solely by the footsteps that echo through the halls of his home, but also by those that will echo forever in his heart and walk unheard beside him every day.”🫶
To Tracy Armes ~ Skylar’s Father, my Husband, my Love on Bereaved Father’s Day.
When our world was shattered with the words no parent expects to hear, you pleaded with our doctor to save our daughter and held yourself together for me. You took on the burden of making heartbreaking phone calls to family and friends and then stood by my side as our beautiful daughter came silently into this world. Though in anguish of our unexpected reality, you were still a proud Father. You looked with such love as you held our daughter in your arms, in awe of how perfect she was though she was gone. You lovingly helped us capture memories with our daughter while also supporting family and friends who came to the hospital. As I struggled to say goodbye, you helped me know when the time was right. You cried with me as we drove home with an empty car seat to a beautifully decorated nursery our daughter would never use.
You found a little white casket for our precious baby girl and planned a touching funeral. You helped us select special items to bury with her and held me as we saw her casket for the first time at the funeral home. You got me through her graveside service and gently picked me up when I collapsed over her casket. There are so many memories of your loving embrace that meant so much to me.
You cared for my every physical need as I recovered from a cesarean, from helping me in the bathroom in tears, to making sure I took my medications as prescribed, to taking me to SO many doctors appointments. You took me for a ride when I couldn’t bear the quiet of the house any longer and stayed home with me as long as you could.
You encouraged me as I angrily questioned God and if we would ever have the child we longed for. You supported my need to connect with others who had experienced the same heartache as us. You simply held me and let me cry when that’s all I needed, too.
So wrapped up in my own grief at the time, it wasn’t until I returned to work that I understood how hard it must have been to go to work each day and put on a normal face, have normal conversations, do normal things and then come home to your mess of a wife and our broken world. I don’t know how you did it. I look back on pictures from that dark time, I see the unspoken sadness in your face.
With God’s grace, love and hope, we’ve survived nearly 6 years. Something I’m incredibly grateful for, as I know not every couple comes through such tragedy together.
Throughout these years, I love how you’ve included our daughter in all of my greeting cards and gifts. And how you cherish her little brother spending time with his big sisters and our grandkids and wonder what she would be doing now. Knowing you look for little signs with thoughts of her bring incredible joy to my heart, too.
I love how you support our acts of kindness in Skylar’s memory. From ribbon tyer, paper cutter, proof reader, vehicle loader, delivery chauffeur, bargain hunter, thought partner, prayer partner, - there truly are way too many ways to list. And as Skylar’s Love Mission grows, creating a legacy of service and compassion our family can be proud of, I am so grateful for such a supportive husband and father who demonstrates incredible love. Love for ALL your children, Skylar included, just as God loves us!
Thank you for carrying me when I was most broken and the Godly love you always show your family. On International Bereaved Father’s Day and everyday, I see you and I love you ‘more.’ 😉❤️
Love Shannon Brooks Armes
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