Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio's newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.
An annual memorial service for parents who have lost a child takes place on Saturday morning.
The event is hosted by the nonprofit Any Baby Can. It provides assistance to families of children and youth with special needs.
Jennifer Hixon, the president and CEO of Any Baby Can, said the Butterfly Memorial Release is part of its grief and loss program.
Hixon said the event is meant to honor parents enduring that grief and loss.
"People say it's unimaginable," she explained. "It's not unimaginable, because, unfortunately, it happens to so many people, but it is definitely incredibly devastating and just life altering."
Hixon added: "And so the butterfly ... they're amazing, they're resilient, they're incredible. And I think that they're just a really beautiful symbol of what we're trying to show with this program, which is that there's incredible resiliency in our families who are going through this terrible journey, but will come out the other side."
Each family gets a butterfly to represent their child. The release symbolizes the child’s spirit. In an official statement, Hixon added that “our Butterfly Memorial is a time for remembrance, connection, and healing.”
Hixon also said that Any Baby Can’s Grief and Loss program helps families with funeral assistance and grief counseling.
"Unfortunately, when you lose someone, you are immediately faced with a bunch of decisions," she explained," and so our team [is] available ... to help people with the very practical next steps that they need to take. It really takes a load off of the families so that they can focus on taking care of themselves, as opposed to kind of all of the funeral arrangements and things like that."
The Butterfly Memorial Release is on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Aggie Park at 6205 West Ave.
