Mother’s bittersweet acts of kindness to remember lost baby

Caitlyn Costello and her husband faced a heartbreaking reality on Jan. 31, 2020, when they held their stillborn daughter, Callie Brooke Costello, for the first and last time.

“The last thing the doctor told me was anything that happens now is a sign to deliver, and then by Friday morning, I went to the doctor because I wasn’t feeling her move anymore, and we had lost her,” said Caitlyn. “She had no heartbeat.”

Thirty-seven weeks gestation, little Callie’s umbilical cord wrapped around her neck.

“It just got too tight,” said Caitlyn. “It happens to a lot of babies, but sometimes those babies just don’t get to come home, and my baby was one of them.”

Transforming Grief

Wrapped in grief, Caitlyn found a way to honor Callie’s brief life by spreading kindness to others.

Each year around Callie’s birthday, Caitlyn pays for birthday cakes and cupcakes for other children.

This year, in honor of what would have been Callie’s fourth birthday, Caitlyn visited Sam’s Club and covered the cost of cakes for four families, including Amanda Salinas and Yahaira Pullen.

“We went to pick them up that morning, and they were saying that, ‘Oh, this is one of the orders.’ And we’re like, ‘What are you talking about?'” said Salinas.

“Customer service at the bakery said, no, they were free, that someone else had paid for it,” said Pullen.

Callie’s Gift

The cakes came with a note from the Costello family, explaining that they were purchased in honor of Callie’s birthday in heaven.

The gesture brought tears to the recipients’ eyes, reminding them of the preciousness of life and the pain of loss.

“I actually cried a lot because I had a miscarriage last year, so it really touched home to me,” said Salinas.

Caitlyn maintains a Facebook account called “Callie’s Gift,” where she shares the acts of kindness done in Callie’s name.

Through this platform, Caitlyn keeps Callie’s memory alive, touching the hearts of many in the process.

Caitlyn’s kindness extends beyond birthday cakes.

She and her family provide bereavement boxes to hospitals and fundraise for Cuddle Cots, devices that give grieving parents more time with their babies.

All for Callie

In these acts, Caitlyn finds solace and a way to honor Callie’s memory.

Caitlyn’s story is one of profound loss and enduring love.

Through her acts of kindness, she keeps Callie’s memory alive and brings comfort to others.

Callie may be gone, but her spirit lives on in the kindness of her mother and those she has touched.

Full circle

Lisa M. von Brueckwitz caught wind of Caitlyn’s acts to other families of kindness on Facebook.

After learning about Caitlyn’s loss, Bruekwitz gifted the family their own memorial stone.

It made for an emotional and beautiful end to a bittersweet double kindness story.