An estimated 1,500-plus people, most grouped in families with many small children, participated in the Ninth Annual “A Walk to Remember” on the Loma Linda University Health campus on Sunday, October 12. The ceremony memorializes infants and children lost to the families.
After registering and receiving T-shirts and other materials, the walkers entered Loma Linda University Church to participate in a solemn but uplifting service. The program featured music, a liturgy, special prayers and a keynote address by author Angie Smith of Nashville, Tennessee, who lost her prematurely born daughter, Audrey, six years ago. Her child lived only two and a half hours.
“This is the club no one wants to belong to,” Smith said through tears, which were matched by tears in the audience. “They weighed Audrey when she was born, and her weight was 3 pounds, 2 ounces. It comforted me somewhat that my baby had a weight in this world,” Smith added.
Then the organizers from Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital distributed gifts to each family as their child’s name flashed on the large screens at the front of the church. First names like “Faith,” “Grace,” “Strength” and “Chance” appeared in beautiful script on the screens as soft music played. Many women stopped to hug Angie Smith in thanks for her presentation as they moved back to their seats.
Outside, a bagpiper in full regalia playing “Amazing Grace” walked through the crowd as white doves were released. Then the large group began their quiet walk through Loma Linda, “taking steps for the children who can’t.”