‘225’: Families turn grief into action with foundations

When the grief comes grinding down hard, families look for signs of the kids they loved. A red balloon. A white bird. A circling hawk. “I asked Bella, ‘When you are in heaven and Mommy wants to see you, what will you come back as?’ Her answer was, a red bird,” says Kim Bowman. Bowman lost Bella in December 2011 after the 8-year-old battled brain cancer, then succumbed to necrosis caused by the radiation used to keep the cancer away. Since then, mysterious coincidences have occurred. After the Bowman family did a birthday balloon release in honor of Bella at the local Chick-fil-A, a red balloon landed in their yard on the other side of town. Bella’s father, Trey, almost ran over it with his lawn mower. A dove visited the Bowmans on Easter Sunday. It stayed on their lawn all day. They believed it was Bella coming to say she loves them. But signs from those who have passed only come when they come. You can’t steer them. There’s no seeking them out. Giving back is another matter. It’s an immediate action. Find out how three grieving mothers turned their sorrow into positive community action in the full story from the new issue of 225 magazine here.