Caislee Rylin's Story

On December 4, 2022, at 9:06 in the morning, our daughter, Caislee Rylin, was born sleeping.

She was 40 weeks and 2 days old. We had spent months preparing to meet our little girl, imagining the moment we would finally hold her in our arms, introduce her to her siblings, and begin a lifetime of memories together. We had dreamed of the little things, the ordinary days, and all the moments we thought we would get to share with her.

Instead, our world became one we never could have imagined.

We left the hospital without our daughter in our arms, carrying a kind of heartbreak that words could never fully explain. The future we had pictured for our family changed in an instant, and we were left learning how to live in a world where someone so deeply loved was no longer physically here.

But Caislee was here.

She was real. She was ours. She was a daughter, a little sister, and a precious part of our family long before we ever got to see her face.

And she will always be.

A love that has never left

Losing Caislee changed the way we see the world. Grief found its way into places we never expected, into ordinary moments, family milestones, holidays, and the quiet spaces where we still wish she could be.

We see the space she should have filled. We imagine the sister she would have been and the memories we wish her brothers and sister could share with her. We think about who she might be today and all the little things we will never get to know.

There are days when missing her is as familiar as breathing. There are moments when a sunset, a birthday, or a simple question about how many children we have brings her right to the forefront of our hearts.

Our family has continued to grow, and we have been given reasons to laugh, celebrate, and experience joy again. But loving the children we get to hold will never mean loving Caislee any less. Joy and grief have learned to live side by side in our home.

We are a family of six children, five here with us and one forever held in our hearts in Heaven.

We don't leave Caislee out of our story just because we cannot hold her hand. We speak her name. We remember her. We make room for her in our family, because she belongs here.

Why her name lives on

In the days, months, and years following Caislee's death, we came to understand how deeply a grieving family needs to be seen.

Sometimes people don't know what to say. Sometimes the world moves forward before your heart is ready. Sometimes the baby you love so much becomes a part of your story that others no longer know how to acknowledge.

But a baby's life matters, no matter how long or how briefly they were here.

Caislee's life matters.

Her name matters. Her place in our family matters. The love we have for her will never be measured by the time we had with her, and her legacy will never be defined only by the way we lost her.

We wanted her name to become something that could reach beyond our own family. Something that could offer comfort to another parent sitting in a hospital room, returning home with empty arms, navigating pregnancy after loss, or trying to find a way forward in a world that no longer feels familiar.

That hope became part of the heart of the Caislee Rylin Foundation.

A legacy of love

The Caislee Rylin Foundation exists because Caislee exists in our story.

Through remembrance, resources, and meaningful acts of comfort, we hope to remind families experiencing pregnancy and infant loss that their babies are not forgotten, their grief deserves tenderness, and they do not have to navigate the hardest moments alone.

We cannot change what happened to our daughter. We cannot bring her home or give our family the years we dreamed of having with her.

But we can carry her name forward.

We can allow her life to make a difference. We can create space for other families to say their babies' names without hesitation, to honor the children they miss, and to know that their love has a place in this world.

Caislee will always be our daughter. She will always be a sister. She will always be part of the family we are and the story we tell.

And every time her name is spoken, every time another family feels a little less alone, and every time love is offered to a grieving heart in her memory, a little more of her legacy continues.

For our Caislee, and for every baby who will always be loved.