FORT LIBERTY, NC—For Jennifer Hartman, losing her child was the single most traumatic thing in her life. Thanks to the annual Walk to Remember event at Womack Army Medical Center held Tuesday evening, she is better able to deal with her grief and make the load a little lighter.

Donning a ‘Team Oliver’ shirt in honor of her son, Hartman says “the biggest thing is the stigma of saying it out loud that you have lost your child and the reaction that you get. Knowing this community has my back—it’s important to be a part of this to help make the conversation easier. It helps the discussion when it’s a topic that people don’t shy away from. Losing a child is the hardest thing to live with.”

The event, hosted at Womack for almost two decades, allows parents who have lost children to meet at the same place, share their experiences and take time out to remember their loved ones. The event included a candle-lighting ceremony, and parents write their child’s names on decorative stones and place them at Womack’s statue of the angel to honor their children.

Lt. Col. Stan Jasiurkowski, Womack’s Chief of Department of Ministry and Pastoral Care, says it moves him to see parents interacting at the event. “This helps the parents advance their grieving process and helps to find healing and peace amidst their grief”, he says. “I just spoke with a family who has been coming here for 16 years, so obviously it has a significant positive impact on these parents.”

For more information go to https://womack.tricare.mil/Patient-Resources/Pastoral-Care