Hudson Drews

Hudson was our second child. Unfortunately, getting pregnant a second time didn’t come as easy. We experienced three and a half long years of secondary infertility. Never losing hope, in the summer of 2014 our prayers were finally answered. Elated by the news of our second pregnancy, we were even more excited after learning it would be another boy. Hudson Smidt Drews was born on April 4th, 2015. He was everything we had hoped for and more. He was silly, happy, and had a contagious smile. And that hair, he had a full head! Sadly, we were only given 13 short months with Hudson. He passed away on May 15th, 2016 of SUDC. He wasn’t sick. In fact, he was perfectly healthy. It was nothing we could have prepared for. He simply fell asleep the night before and never woke up. We were devastated. We called Hudson, “Buzzy,” a silly, but fitting nickname that evolved during our brief time with him. Upon losing him, Nate and I knew we would never forget him. We wanted to find a way to keep his silly, vibrant, and contagiously happy spirit alive. We started Buzzy’s Bees, a nonprofit where the mission is to change the grief culture surrounding the unexpected loss of a child through outreach, education, and programs offering emotional and financial support to families who have experienced the sudden loss of a child. This grief journey has become all-consuming for me, Hudson’s Mom, there is not an hour that goes by where I do not think of Hudson. Losing him has become my life in addition to Buzzy’s I am getting my MSW in Grief and Trauma. Somedays, especially the 6 weeks surrounding his death when I relive that nightmare, I am not sure it is helping or worth it, others it is all I must cling to. I love you Buzzy. I feel you everywhere, I look for you in everything – butterflies rising.