One of my fondest childhood memories is traveling to the March for Life with my mother and siblings, plus two other large families. I later found out that my mother was quite stressed during these adventures because she was constantly worried about losing her children in the MASSIVE crowds! I particularly remember one year when I was just about to turn 13 years old, so I was permanently tasked with helping her keep track of my younger siblings; my 12-year-old friends had to do the same for their little siblings.

This fall and winter, with a newborn, I thought of new ways to promote the culture of life from home (I listed some here). By January, though, I decided to get out of the house and march with a wonderful non-profit called Divine Mercy Care, where I have been working part-time for the past year. This was my first March for Life with my own child, Lucia. My husband couldn’t march with me because he was working, but I didn’t think that I would need help with Lucia because she is only 5 months and can’t even crawl yet – but I was wrong!

Toward the end of the rally before the March, Lucia decided that she had had enough of being in her stroller and wanted to be held – which was no problem because the teenagers and children in the group were dying to hold her!  But then, we got stuck in the middle of a crowd, behind a bunch of porta-potties for about 30 minutes. We couldn’t move onto the road where the March was happening because the crowd was so big and there was only a small space in the middle of the row of porta-potties to get through.

It was then that Lucy became a little fussy because she was bored of staying in one place, wanted her mama to hold her, and was very sleepy and hungry. So, one teenager from the group took charge of my stroller and purse; a friend of mine stood next to me to shield me from the crowds while I nursed her; another friend of mine entertained Lucia while I got ready to nurse her and when I “put myself back together” afterward; another teenager sang songs with me to keep Lucy happy; and, yet another teenager fought her way back through the crowd when we got separated to lead me to where my stroller was.  Plus, some people in the crowd let me go ahead of them since I had a baby, although they themselves had been waiting a long time to join the Marchers on Constitution Avenue.

A few teenagers stayed with me throughout the March. They helped me change Lucy’s diaper, push the stroller, and even carried her! I could tell the mother of two of the teenagers was a little nervous at times because Lucy and I traveled a little slower than the rest of the Marchers, so we got separated from the main group a couple times. But, she let her daughters stay with me – probably because she could see that I could use some help and that her teenagers were enjoying themselves.

Reflecting on my experience later, I realized that these teenage girls were helping me, just as I had helped my mom with my younger siblings several years ago! This is one example of what a “Culture of Life” looks like, and it is beautiful to see it continue from one generation to another.

You see: it’s not just the babies the marchers care for–it’s the babies’ moms, too.

May God bless you and your little babies, too!

PS If you want to joyfully inspire your children with the Culture of Life (without confronting them with the culture of death), why don’t you take part in our free online Holy Heroes Spiritual Adoption Prayer Adventure? Inspired by Venerable Fulton Sheen’s “Spiritual Adoption Prayer,”  it’s a fun, engaging way to pray for the unborn, as well as teach your children about the development of a baby in the mother’s womb and the miracle of life. It’s totally free–and great for families, parishes, schools, clubs! Learn more about it–>just click here.