Gently swaying pink and blue balloons tied to a bulletin board with cut out hearts in matching colors drew a group of individuals and families who gathered with First Selectman Dan Rosenthal in front of the Newtown Community Center as the sun set on Saturday evening.

The families convened in front of the Community Center to mark National Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month on October 15 with a brief welcoming from Newtown residents Jessi Ruotolo and Kathy Birchall Gardner, ahead of a brief walk around the campus and a reading of names representing the lost and too-short lives each of the families in attendance continue to celebrate.

Birchall Gardner and Ruotolo recalled their own losses, and Ruotolo explained to The Newtown Bee that both are in a place now where they are able to serve as caring and receptive supporters to other families who have more recently experienced this affecting tragedy.

Following the walk, those who gathered lit candles in concert with countless others across the nation and around the world — candles of remembrance that for most, remained burning for a full 24 hours on behalf of all the babies gone too soon.

The joining together of these families from across Fairfield County also included a few individuals who attended in support of someone else’s baby, and everyone was invited to post the name of the departed soul on one of the pink and blue hearts that fluttered below the cluster of balloons.

Evening passersby on Main Street last week may have also noticed that Edmond Town Hall was lit up in pink and blue to mark the occasion as well.

Birchall Gardner’s daughter, Tinsley, was stillborn on Dec 4, 2017 at 32 weeks because of an umbilical cord accident. Birchall Gardner is the vice chair of the Star Legacy Foundation’s New York Metro Chapter, and writes about her experience as a stillbirth mom at ltop.blog/.

She now lives in Sandy Hook with her husband and four sons.

Ruotolo has lived in Newtown for a year. She and her husband Joe’s first child, Luca Gabriel, was stillborn at 34 weeks due to Trisomy 18 in Okinawa, Japan on June 5, 2015.

They had received a fatal diagnosis one month prior.

The couple also has a two-year-old daughter and five-year-old son, and Jessi has written about her experience on her blog at livingforluca.wordpress.com/.

According to the Star Legacy Foundation, anyone who has lost a child to stillbirth, miscarriage, SIDS, or any other cause at any point during pregnancy or infancy is invited to help in raising awareness during Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month each October.

In 1988, US President Ronald Reagan declared October as a month to recognize the unique grief of bereaved parents in an effort to demonstrate support to the many families who have suffered such a tragic loss.

Promoting awareness of pregnancy and infant loss not only increases the likelihood that grieving families will receive understanding and support, but also results in improved education and prevention efforts that may ultimately reduce the incidence of these tragedies.

Star Legacy’s October #NeverBeStill campaign seeks to break the silence surrounding stillbirth and other pregnancy/infant losses by not only educating the public about ways to support bereaved families but also empowering expectant mothers to have a healthy pregnancy.

Learn more at starlegacyfoundation.org