HR1264 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1264 LRB094 20361 HSS 58482 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Each year, members of Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support Group in Springfield meet at a "Walk to Remember" to honor the lives of their children that have died; and

WHEREAS, Share was started in 1977 at St. John's Hospital in Springfield by Sister Jane Marie Lamb, OSF, after she had worked with bereaved parents in Decatur with a group called AMEND (Aiding Mothers and Fathers Experiencing Neonatal Death); at the time, there was not much support or knowledge for parents experiencing miscarriage, stillbirth, or the death of an infant; and

WHEREAS, In 1978, Share began providing education on perinatal loss and bereavement in hospitals, colleges, seminaries, and support groups; this became part of the curriculum for St. John's Hospital School of Nursing, Lincoln Land Nursing School, SIU School of Medicine, and for various departments at the University of Illinois - Springfield; and

WHEREAS, The national Share office has moved from Springfield, first to Belleville, and then to its present location in St. Charles, Missouri, but the Springfield chapter of Share continues to meet monthly in support of bereaved parents; and

WHEREAS, Nearly every month for close to twenty years, Kreston and Elizabeth Lipscomb have facilitated the Springfield Share chapter; they have shared their own experience with painful losses and the joy of their three living children with literally hundreds and hundreds of bereaved parents, thus offering comfort, support, empathy, and hope for the future; and

WHEREAS, This year, the annual "Walk to Remember" is scheduled for the last weekend in September; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the annual "Walk to Remember", and we thank Kres and Liz Lipscomb for the support, empathy, and hope they have provided to so many grieving parents; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Becky Bee, chairman of the Walk to Remember, to the Springfield chapter of Share, and to Kres and Liz Lipscomb as an expression of our gratitude.