LAST WORD
By Kayla Troutman & Crystal Lewis-Tuttle
Using your business to uplift your community
Editor ’ s Note : Kayla Troutman Art Studio owner Kayla Troutman , along with Adorn Coaching owner Crystal Lewis-Tuttle are using their businesses to reach out to people going through infant and pregnancy loss in the community . Here ’ s how they did it .
Crystal Lewis-Tuttle and Kayla Troutman .
Friday , October 14th marked the first annual White Pumpkin Remembrance Walk , hosted by my art studio and Crystal Lewis-Tuttle in Borden , Indiana . The walk honors families who have experienced infant and pregnancy loss . Crystal and her husband are the parents of four babies in heaven and one on earth , so this is a topic very near to their hearts . We met as college roommates in 2007 and now claim each other as sisters , going through the grieving process for each child loss together .
In 2019 , I found a poem titled , “ The White Pumpkin ,” written by Jennifer Giles and shared it with Crystal . The poem compares white pumpkins to angel babies gone too soon and has inspired other families across the country to collect white pumpkins in honor of their own children . Last year , a pumpkin I had tossed out from the previous fall bloomed and produced an impromptu pumpkin patch .
I am a local artist for Kayla Troutman Art Studio and decided to paint images of these pumpkins in honor of Infant and Pregnancy Loss Awareness Month in October . Crystal is the founder of Adorn Coaching and uses her background in psychology and human sexuality to help coach grieving parents on their journey of life after loss . I invited Crystal to co-host a virtual candle vigil during the global Wave of Light in 2021 . The event received so much positive feedback that the pair expanded this year ’ s activities to include a White Pumpkin Remembrance Walk .
This spur of the moment idea quickly gained traction with sponsors and vendors excited to join in the cause . The event featured complimentary memorial gifts and balloons , family activities , refreshments , a reading of the names and the white pumpkin poem , and concluded with a prayer .
Crystal and Troutman I were both humbled by the outpour of support from their local community . Families immediately began messaging the two women , sharing their own stories of loss and thanking them for making space to remember their little ones .
“ We have to talk about this . It has been both incredible and heartbreaking to hear stories from men and women who have carried this pain alone for so long . Multiple families have talked about their babies for the first time since their loss , and it was 20 or more years ago ,” Crystal said .
The photographs that were shared on social media afterward really brought home just how impactful this event was for those who attended . Crystal and I were at the front of the walk , so we didn ’ t get to see the families stop by the names and take photographs and just hold each other and cry . The names on the pavement were a last-minute idea and
I ’ m so glad we did it . Nearly every attendee told us this was their favorite part of the event .
A number of attendees also told us how our event impacted them . Here ’ s some examples :
“ I ’ ve struggled with knowing that my pregnancy wasn ’ t just a dream . That it happened and my baby was real . Getting to participate in something like this walk has helped me tremendously in not feeling so alone in my grief . My baby was real and my baby mattered .” Lindsey Johnson , Mitchell , IN .
“ The fact that her name was spoken by someone other than me touched me so much . Then on channel 11 news they were covering the walk and look what they showed . My heart is so full and broken at the same time ! If for only a second her name was on the minds of thousands , she was known , she existed !” – Veronica Sparks-Lykins , Salem , IN .
Crystal and I would like to thank their husbands and families for supporting us in the planning process and assisting in the event , along with Everest Studios , Sandy ’ s Cakes , and their sponsors , Certainty Home Inspections and My Cup Runneth Over Coffee & Charcuterie Café .
If you would like to receive an invitation or add your baby ’ s name ( s ) to the list for next year ’ s events , go to bit . ly / wp2023names .
38 NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2022