Tucker : Tough, Sweet, Joyful

I love having memories from OAW that show how far my daughter and I have come. Having a support system outside of doctors and nurses—one filled with families who understand the emotional juggling that comes with raising a child with special needs—has been invaluable. I love meeting other moms and families at gatherings. Seeing a…

We can’t do big outings with huge crowds, which means no public Santa photos in order to keep Wyatt safe. Then OAW started offering private 1-1 photo shoots with Santa for our family. Seeing our kids light up with joy when they see Santa just makes me so emotional. OAW gives families like ours normalcy…

“Working with these children for a whole dedicated day helped reinvigorate my drive for this mission,” Cramer said. “This is the work we are meant to be doing. Meeting a child in the deepest part of their emotions and giving them a safe place to reveal them is no small task. It creates a deep…

It’s hard to imagine a life without the perspective and hope that stillbirth has brought me. And it’s even harder to imagine a life where I never got to love my son — even if it was only for a moment.

There’s always a feeling that something — or someone — is missing. Sometimes it hits like a wave. Other times it’s more subtle, like that nagging sense of “I’m forgetting something.” But I’m not. I’m remembering someone: my son.

Three days later, Blakely passed away in my arms. As I held him, the doctors came in to share the news that Dericka had tested positive for Trisomy 18. Until that moment, we had hoped the Trisomy 18 diagnosis belonged to Blakely. But in another rare twist, it turned out each of our twins had…

OAW has been instrumental in keeping Genesis Makenna’s memory alive, giving me a place to heal and a way to give back to families like mine. Being directly involved in this work — the same work that meant so much to me during my darkest moments — has brought healing and meaning I never expected.

The photos of Caleb are the only ones we have, aside from the few my husband took after birth. I look at them often. They remind me he was real, even if only for part of a day. I didn’t know how much I’d treasure them until after. I’m so thankful for the nursing staff…

The NICU Halloween Mini Sessions began in 2023 and have quickly become a cherished annual tradition for both hospital staff and OAW volunteers. Each session celebrates resilience, community, and the small but powerful joys that can exist even in the most delicate circumstances.

Looking back, knowing now what they offer, I wish I had connected with On Angels’ Wings back in 2019 when we experienced our first loss. Because I knew loss was possible, with Jamysen I had simply wanted a family photo in case something unexpected happened… but we were blessed with more than I could have…