Beloved Book "Love You Forever" Inspires Mom to Make Shirts That Raise Awareness For Infant Loss

Nearly everyone recognizes the familiar line, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be," from Robert Munsch's children's book, Love You Forever. However, many are unaware of the story behind the book: it was originally written as a song for Munsch's twin sons who were stillborn. Heidi Eastveld, who admits she didn't know much about stillbirth before her sister unfortunately experienced the loss of both a son and a daughter within 10 months, decided to create a t-shirt inspired by the beloved book, both for those affected by infant loss and to raise general awareness.

The tees, which bear the book's title in brush script done by artist Kal Barteski (who shared with Heidi that her and her children read the book every night), are sold through Heidi's small business, Little Orchard Co., in the form of toddler tees, baby onesies, and in adult crew and v-neck styles. Heidi donates profits from the shirt sales to Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, a nonprofit organization that provides free and professional remembrance photography for parents suffering the loss of a baby.

"This tee was created for every person who has loved a child. Whether it was just 2 lines on a pregnancy test, whether it was before 40 weeks, whether they took them home from the hospital or not, whether they hold them in their arms, or only in their heart," reads a post about the shirts on the Little Orchard Co. website. "We hope to, in some small way, bring awareness to the issue of stillbirth and infant loss. To the army of warrior parents, grandparents and family members, who have lost their precious children, I hope it will start conversation, acknowledge stories, and inspire."