I’m Franchesca, just a wife and mama who loves to write, make artwork out of quotes and IG pics and gather decorating ideas for our home on Pinterest. I’m also lately intrigued by the whole ‘crunchy’ movement. I don’t use shampoo or conditioner and I’m trying to perfect my own laundry soap recipe.
You might notice there’s a lot on this blog about loss, and mostly that is because this blog started as an outlet for all the emotions I had no idea what to do with after losing our first daughter. Writing the blog, and connecting with a community who could relate to what I was going through was more healing than I can ever put into words. Today this space lives on in a different way. It’s a testament that I’ve survived, and if you have faced a loss, you will too. I hope you can find something here, and in our story that gives you hope. Life has a way of pushing through, even when you don’t want it to.
Since our loss, I’ve found some measure of healing, a lot more happiness than I ever imagined I could, and a deeper faith. I believe that we are each given a story. And that story can either make us or break us. But our stories are gifts that have the power to make all the difference in the life of another.
This is our story… my gift to you.
Projects: Still Standing Magazine // Celebrate Life art shop // Lost for Words Card Line
hi fran! i just found your blog through carissa’s miscellany monday. i love her! she is the sweetest and i’m so glad i came across yours. i’m looking forward to reading more of you and will try and link up to your blog hop!
blessings,
alely
Oh thank you Alely! I look forward to following your sweet blog too xoxo
Fran, I just found your page & I’m in love with it!!! I love that I can relate to you blogs, wording & ideas 100%. I give birth to baby girls Twins Ava & Ella just 10 months ago 26 weeks premature but sadly both passed just 6 days later. Since the loss of our first children our world has been turned upside down but we have taken the good out of it & started to make a difference in a small way. We also support RMHC (Australia), what a great charity they are- in December we raised $7500 in a charity event that I organized for RMHC and the hospital our girls where at. If your interested is following my story I have a FB page that I use and I have also just started a photoblog http://www.photoblog.com/equalshappiness . keep doing what your doing Fran it really is helping others & I’m sure your self also. lauren Xxoo
Lauren Cooksey recently posted..A fellow follow this morning has shared a page with us that helped her & now the…
Lauren, thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words. I am so sorry for the recent loss of your precious girls. I visited and liked your page just now, what a beautiful ministry you have to honor their lives. That is also incredible that you support RMHC, and that you were able to raise so much for them. That organization did a great deal for us while Jenna was in the NICU, they really are a wonderful charity!! :) I hope to keep in touch with you!! lots of love xx
Franchesca recently posted..If you asked me
What a beautiful and inspiring site that I am so grateful to have come across! I needed some encouragement and it is exactly what I have found browsing through “this beautiful mess.” I, too, have a beautiful mess, and have written my story in “Facets of Life; What I Didn’t Expect When I was Expecting.” I was inspired to write a book because I searched for years for someone to tell their story, the raw truth, and the messes that came along with the death of a child. My son passed due to a utering rupture while I was delivering him, and I was not successful in finding any true stories on uterine rupture, so I wrote of my own. He lived about 25 minutes. I published it last year and have been really involved in helping others through the tragedy of losing a child(ren). It is a journey like no other. Thank you for sharing your life and journey with others, and thank you for sharing with me today, on a day when I really needed to find this. My son passed almost 7 years ago, but not one minute goes by that I am not missing him, but also not one minute goes by that my love for him has ever stopped. Have a blessed day and know that you made a difference in my life today! I recently started a blog in addition to my facebook page, but if you would like to look at my website loricweatherly.com, there is more info there on the book and a little of my story as well. With much hope, Lori
I just have to say thank you for the blog, and the magazine “still standing”. I am amazed, and i am inspired. After losing my baby almost 7 months ago, I have to say that these things are needed, they are appreciated, and they help to restore a little bit of hope and healing in devestating times. I love that you call it a beautiful mess, I hope that my mess will be beautiful, that there will be beauty from these ashes, that in the middle of my heartache there will be joy and life. Thank you….
Thank you Rochelle. My heart goes out to you, I am so sorry for your loss. It is hard to see it, and sometimes believe it, but there will be joy again. It always breaks my heart to learn about another mother who is living that unimaginable pain. Just know you are never ever alone, and just as I have found, there is a beautiful supportive community who gets your pain. The community i found through blogs inspired a lot of my healing over the years. Sending big hugs, and prayers for healing. xxxx
Hi i ran into your page through Carly Marie and i love your page . I lost my little girl 2 months ago her name was Khloe Eileen but we called her Khloe Bug she was 13 month old .I can honestly say this is killing me , sometimes i feel like it will never get better and im sure it will never get better i will just have to learn how to deal with it. But it is awesome to fine women who know what im going through. So thank you for your blog .
Thank you for writing and creating this space. I just discovered your blog but have been reading quite often at Still Standing. I lost my third child, my 8 week old baby girl, Naomi on June 22nd. Some days it is hard to just breath. And with each passing day and week it gets harder. Knowing there are others who have walked this way before does give me comfort and hope. A beautiful mess…your words about your daughter’s impact on your life and this world are beautiful. Thank you for sharing her.
Lacy recently posted..{this moment}
I am so so sorry for your loss Lacy. Thank you for stopping by, it is an honor to share our Jenna Belle with the world. Sending big hugs and prayers for you xxxx
I am a TX girl also, and found your page through Carly Marie’s Seashore of Remembrance page. I found her page after reading your Still Standing Magazine or on a support group on FB. My husband and I recently lost our first child and daughter Lily due to IC. She was born at 22 weeks 3 days on May 30, 2012, and lived with us for 3 hours. We love and miss her everyday. She lives with us though, and as we have started to ttc, we hope she will help us through this time of sadness. However, like you, we understand that even though we may not know why, she was called to Heaven for a reason. Thank you for sharing your family with us.
Dear Brenda, I am so sorry for your loss of your beautiful girl. Wishing so much peace and healing on the road ahead.
xxxx
Fran, I just found your site through a fb friend who recommended it to me. This is wonderful. I’m going to add you to my network. It is such a horrible thing, losing a child… but I love that you write that her gift was for you to love deeper, and that your life is beautifully broken. Those words resonate with me so much right now. Thank you for sharing your story. Here is mine, if you would like to read it: http://chantalandfam.com/love-overcomes/
Lots of love and blessings and healing
xo
C
Chantal Hayes recently posted..Grief: What we’re not supposed to talk about
Thank you so much. I just finished reading your story, and so glad you shared it with me. Wishing so much peace and healing on this journey as well.
xoxo
<3
Chantal Hayes recently posted..You are already naked.
I have not suffered the loss of a child..but I am currently in the hospital expecting our 3rd child. Our doctors have given us a fatal prognosis for our son and I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around what to expect once our precious son is born. I have to say, that if the Heavenly Father decides to call our Son home, I have comfort in knowing there is an amazing support group of moms that I can turn to. I am truly sorry for your loss; for all of the mothers and fathers that have to endure such pain. I know I am not alone, and I appreciate your blog. God bless.
Angela, I am so sorry to hear this. I am praying for you and your precious son. I hope you can enjoy the rest of the days in your pregnancy as much as possible, I know that can be challenging. Sending big hugs to you. And praying so much that you’ll never need this amazing support system but if you should, we will be here for you. xoxo
I think I’d found your blog long ago, but today someone posted a picture you made saying, “I lost my twins” from your site saying they were thinking of me.
I lost my twin boys this past May at 20 weeks after a horrendous week in the hospital. I have had your magazine mentioned to me time and time again, but as things are so jumbled still, haven’t ever had the chance to sit down and find it.
Thanks for sharing. Thanks for making this a little pain a more beautiful in what can be perceived as so ugly.
Diana Stone recently posted..On Being Angry
Oh Diana. I am so sorry for your losses. There just aren’t words. Praying the days and months ahead are gentle on you. xoxo
my daughter riley was stillborn at 34 weeks on 9/26/12. i found your site through a community board on baby center.com. i have experienced a roller coaster of emotions over the last several days. most of all, i am stuck trying to find meaning behind her passing. my hope is that through your site and through others’ stories, i can find peace in all that is happening.
Oh Holly, I am so sorry for your recent loss. My heart goes out to you. It is extremely difficult to find meaning in so much pain. Praying the days and months ahead are gentle on you. Sending peace and love xox
Hi! I’m a new reader from Canada. Your site is peaceful. Our family grieves 2 devastating pregnancies and 2 miracle children. I had Hyperemesis Gravidarum twice, and was hospitalized for many, many weeks, all the while not knowing if I or the baby would survive. It, too, has changed me forever. We can’t have any more. I’m working on an ebook about our experience with HG. Part of my website/blog is a support site for other moms who have suffered with the same. I’m so glad to have found your blog.
Leah recently posted..Let’s Meet…
Thank you so much Lisa. I am so sorry for your losses. I would love to hear more about your book when you are finished, it sounds like a great resource.
Sending big love xx
I know now that I’m not alone….Bless you for sharing your heartbreaking feelings with us. Loss of a baby isn’t something easily understood by those who have not experienced it. I lost my son at 17 weeks after trying to get pregnant for 2 years. That was last May. I’m praying for my rainboy baby, but it’s going to be another long journey of hope and despair. WHEN I finally become pregnant again, your book is on my list to buy.