Turning Tragedy into Love

One woman turns her personal pain into an unbelievable expression of love

“There’s not a lot of call for sweaters and blankets in Arizona,” said Marcy Gushee. She’d just finished crocheting a tiny baby blanket, one of countless blankets, sweaters, hats and clothing that she’s made over the years. “But I know somebody’s going to love this.”

Marcy’s a State Farm^® employee in Arizona. She has a big family; between her and her husband, they have six kids ranging in age from 10-19, but the baby clothes she crochets aren’t for them. They’re for babies that Marcy will never meet. More specifically, they’re for the one baby she never got the chance to meet.

Marcy Gushee

The greatest joy, the biggest heartache

Almost 20 years ago, Marcy was pregnant for the first time, and she was absolutely thrilled. “I’d wanted to be a mom forever so getting pregnant was about the most exciting thing I could think of.” In anticipation, Marcy started making clothes and blankets for her new baby. “I’ve always loved crocheting,” Marcy said. “And crocheting stuff for my new baby was like a dream come true.”

Unfortunately for Marcy, her joy soon turned into tragedy when she suffered a miscarriage.

“I was crushed,” remembered Marcy. “To have the thing you wanted more than anything in the world taken away is the worst thing imaginable.”

Sadly, Marcy’s painful experience is all too common; estimates show that about 10 to 20 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. Like many women who suffer miscarriages, Marcy found herself in a dark place.

“It was horribly sad,” she said. “I’ve always thought that the best way to get out of a sad situation is by doing something good for somebody else.” Looking at the tiny hats, sweaters and blankets that she’d made for her baby, Marcy made a decision. Not to succumb to her grief, but to help others.

Turning pain into love

Marcy took all of the things she’d made for her baby and donated them to Newborns in Need, a national organization that provides new mothers with baby-related necessities. “These were made with love and if I wasn’t going to use them, I wanted them to go somewhere where they’d be needed.”

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Slowly but surely, Marcy began to cope with her grief. She kept crocheting, she kept donating and a little over a year from her loss, she gave birth to her first daughter. “I was blessed with her, and have been blessed ever since,” said Marcy.

Marcy had three more children after that and when she married her current husband, became the step-mother to two more kids. Through it all, Marcy’s never stopped crocheting. In addition to Newborns in Need, she donates her handmade creations to places like Arizona Needy Newborns and Project Linus.

“There are so many organizations out there that need things like this,” Marcy said. “And this helped me as much as it’s helping them, so I’ll be doing this forever.”

“I think going through a loss like I did makes me appreciate what I have even more,” said Marcy.

“If I can help somebody who’s going through what I went through, I’m going to keep doing it.”

Booties and tie