The Story of Something to Hold
It all started with the Sikma Family —
My husband Luke and I spent years trying to grow our family. By the spring of 2018, we had been trying to get pregnant for nearly three years. I had a blog at the time called Our Blue Abode, where I shared about our little fixer-upper and, eventually, our infertility journey.
Opening up online felt vulnerable but healing. I discovered a small community of women who were walking through the same heartache, and I began to see how powerful it is to let others into our stories.
After 14 failed rounds of fertility medication and two canceled attempts to get to IUI, we felt led to take a break. That fall, we sold our home, moved into an RV, and drove from Indiana to Florida to reset. While there, something miraculous happened—we got pregnant naturally.
But just as quickly as we celebrated, we found ourselves grieving. That baby, our first, didn’t stay. We called them Storm, and we clung to the hope of heaven and the truth that our story wasn’t over. Though the loss was deep, our faith carried us.
This may have started from the story of the Sikma family, but God used a collection of stories in our community for this to be something. From our family members (& their family members!) giving so much of their time & resources, to our Board of Directors wholeheartedly serving this mission & every volunteer in between — Something to Hold has become a family in itself.
Read about our board & team here!
The baby that started the blankets —
We moved back to Indiana in the fall of 2020, bought another fixer-upper, and started rebuilding our life. Exactly one year after saying goodbye to Storm, we found out—on that very same date—that we were pregnant again. This little one we called Blueberry. We saw the heartbeat. We shared the joy with family. We believed this was the baby we would hold.
But at our medical dating scan, we were told Blueberry’s heart had stopped beating. I miscarried naturally two weeks later, after carrying the weight of both life and loss through Mother's Day and a family wedding. It was a grief unlike anything else.
That loss opened my heart in a new way. Blueberry taught me compassion—how you never truly know what someone is carrying when you pass them in the grocery store.
After that goodbye, I ached for something to hold. I had no babies in my arms, only babies in heaven. That summer, I found myself making a simple fleece tie blanket—something I learned to do as a child. It brought me peace. It was tangible. It gave me comfort. I didn’t know it at the time, but that blanket was the seed of what would become Something to Hold.
Four months later, I was pregnant again. As we waited and prayed, I shared the story of that blanket on our Instagram page on Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. We asked if anyone knew a family missing a baby that day—and eight names were sent to us almost immediately.
We couldn’t choose just one. So we asked our small online community if they’d help us make and send eight blankets. Within 30 minutes, the cost and help were completely covered.
It was clear—there was a need, and people were ready to meet it.
Many trips to Joann’s from our whole family to stock up on fabric to keep blankets going out! ⤷
⤶ Making our first blanket gifted in October 2021 while sitting close to the blanket we made for ourselves.
& now we hope to bring STH to communities coast to coast!
The timeline of STH
May 2021
I made myself a fleece tie blanket for something to hold after our second miscarriage.
October 2021
On National Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness day we asked if other families needed a blanket. 8 families were nominated & a community of people came together to have their blankets provided.
January 2022
After being asked for several blankets, we decided to pursue making more blankets, asking for donations, planning events & filling the gap of loving our neighbor through baby loss.
January 2023
We applied for our official nonprofit status & by March we were granted every license. What is usually a year long process, was 3 months for us! God is good!
Present
Sent over 1,100 blankets
Reached all 50 states
Completed countless service projects
Host regular events
& there is so much more to come!
Where the name “Something to Hold” came from —
When donations came in through Venmo, we needed a name. Something to Hold started as a simple description. But it stuck. A few months later, more requests came in. We kept saying yes.
I still remember sitting on the floor of my in-laws’ house tying blankets with friends and dreaming about what this could become. In January 2022, we hosted our first blanket-making event in a greenhouse. It was full of warmth, laughter, and light. That night, we realized this wasn’t just about grief. It was about hope, healing, and community.
We’ve been making blankets ever since.
It’s not just about blankets —
Today, Something to Hold is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that sends comfort to families across the country—from early pregnancy loss to infant loss. We host events, visit churches and schools, and speak on how to love our neighbors through the heartbreak of baby loss. The blanket is no longer the end—it’s the invitation. A way in. A symbol of hope. A reminder that this pain has purpose.
When we officially filed as a nonprofit in January 2023, we prayed over every step. Our board of directors, our volunteers, and every family we serve—it’s all God-ordained. And we don’t take that lightly.
Our prayer is that every blanket received is more than soft fabric and tied knots. We pray each one carries the weight of love, the generosity of those who fund and tie it, and the hope of a story much bigger than ourselves.
Because yes, our mission is to gift blankets—but it’s also to give hope, to encourage healing, and to point every grieving heart to the gospel. For every empty arm, we want to offer something to hold.
Your Support
Something to Hold is a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit organization (EIN: 92-1427675), and every aspect of our mission is made possible through the generosity of others. Each blanket we gift is handmade and shipped with love—completely funded by donations. Our support gatherings, keepsakes, and special events are hosted thanks to the faithful support of individual donors and community sponsors. We are deeply grateful for every person who chooses to partner with us in bringing comfort, remembrance, and hope to families grieving the loss of a baby.
read our miscarriage stories
In May of this year we experienced our second miscarriage. Although I was not writing here of our experience, I was keeping close journals in hopes I would have the bravery to share more later on. Sharing our infertility journey & previous loss is something important to me. Something that has always helped me. Here is my documentation of our second babe’s life that we longed for & miss dearly.