As I’ve shown you recently, I’m collecting hearts. I keep finding them here and there. I see them painted on the wall, carved into the concrete, sculpted into rock, and even scattered across the grass by a strong wind. They remind me of Lorenzo. Maybe they are from him

I’ve stopped questioning their prevalence and now relish each heart when it appears. They feel like links in a chain. I still have no idea where the chain is leading or how much darkness is up ahead. We had a significant setback recently that confirmed there’s still much darkness to feel our way through, but seeing the hearts makes me feel like I’m at least following the path, even if I’m standing stock-still. Maybe I’m not too far off course, as much as Ryan and I feel that way when it comes to being parents.

I miss the hearts when days go by without a link in the chain. So, I want to ask all of you to help fill the gaps and create this path with me. The initial idea to collect hearts from all of you was my friend Shana’s and I think it’s a wonderful one. I knew Shana in high school and while we haven’t seen each other face-to-face in years, time gone by didn’t matter when we found out we were both pregnant and both due on the same day in September. Her lovely little girl is in the world with us, smiling and heartbeating. Lorenzo, physically, is not. Shana has been amazing as we continue to share motherhood journeys, even if they have led us down shockingly different branches. She also happens to be an incredibly talented designer and has kindly offered to help me eventually collect all of our hearts into a digital book. My big dream is to produce the book in a way that could also raise money for heart causes. But first things first…

…Let’s build a chain! Let’s acknowledge all of these hearts out there in the world. All you have to do is email me images and captions for the hearts you find. As I mentioned, this project has its very own blog, where I’ll post your hearts and commentary. I’d love to know:• The Who (that’s you)
• The Where (where you took the photo)
• The Link (anything you’d like to share about what you were feeling or thinking at the time).Some of you (Gina and Jen <3), have already done this on your own… sharing the hearts you’ve come across. You are an organic part of the process and evidence that it helps just as much to see your hearts as it does to see the ones I find. You can already find both of their contributions on Chain-Link Heart Project.

A quick google search will show that I’m not the first person to collect hearts, but that’s not what this is about–being the first or the only. The heart, especially, is too universal for that kind of thinking. This is about how what you find on your path may just help someone else on theirs. This is open to all and dependent on building a community, so please feel free to help me spread the word… and the heart. Forward a link to this post to your friends. Hashtag (#chainlinkheartproject) the project on your social media of choice. Whatever you’re comfortable doing to add links to the chain that helps me both recognize my son in the world and believe I’m still on the path to motherhood. I thank you for having heart and I have a feeling others will, too.