Kelly Ann and Joe Pendergrass were excited when they found out they were expecting their first child. Weeks later they learned that they were having a little girl, and everything was going according to plan. Their daughter was very active, but then, on the morning of March 11, things seemed different.
“That morning, I felt no movement, which was odd. After using a doppler at home and finding no heartbeat, we went to Ascension St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital to get checked out,” Kelly Ann shared. “After two ultrasounds, they informed us that our daughter, at 31 weeks and 1 day, no longer had a heartbeat. We were devastated.”
On March 13, Dorothy Rose, who was named after her two great-grandmothers, was born sleeping.
“While we were at the hospital, we received a basket from Forget-Me-Not Baskets. It contained so many mementos and items of comfort. It really helped us through such a difficult time,” Pendergrass said. Just a few weeks later, on March 31, Kelly Ann had her 31st birthday. She decided to host a fundraiser for Forget-Me-Not Baskets to show her and Joe’s gratitude for what the baskets provided them, along with the hope to help other families that experience pregnancy or infant loss.
Sara Ringle, the founder of Forget-Me-Not Baskets, resides in Creston, Ohio, but is originally from Murfreesboro. When she heard about Pendergrass’s fundraiser she reached out.
“I thought it would be nice if the Pendergrass family could deliver the baskets that they sponsored, in person,” stated Ringle. “The fact that they wanted to give back and help others, while navigating their own grief, was very humbling to witness.”
With the help of family and friends, the Pendergrasses raised a total of $1,224.
Forget-Me-Not Baskets has assembled and donated more than 11,000 baskets to over 70 locations, mainly in Ohio, since 2007. Since 2021, Forget-Me-Not Baskets has gifted over $14,000 in Forget-Me-Not Baskets to Ascension St. Thomas Rutherford.
Items like a memory book, journal, certificate of birth, pocket stones, an ornament, flower seeds, blanket, literature, and many other curated items offer an additional connection of support between the nursing staff and the patient at a very sad time.
Each basket donated to Ascension St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital will have a tag or card stating that the items have been donated in memory of Dottie Pendergrass.
For additional information about Forget-Me-Not Baskets, which provide items of grief support, comfort and remembrance for family members experiencing a loss during pregnancy or childbirth, and how to sponsor a basket, visit forgetmenotbaskets.com or email fmnbaskets@gmail.com.
___
Pictured at top: Newborn Brooks Kittle posed with a Forget-Me-Not elephant in honor of his previously deceased baby brother Noah. Photo courtesy of Facebook.com/ForgetMeNotBaskets
