IRIS Memorial Water Lantern event held at Carleton College in Northfield
By Jerry Smith
Northfield News
July 14, 2012

Floating reminders	In remembrance
Personal touch	Lighting the lantern
Preparing to launch	Waiting to launch
Solemn moment	Flotilla
	Lighting Lyman Lake

They were decorated with photos of infants lost and messages of love.

Some were garnished with fresh flowers and small trinkets.

All were in remembrance of a child who passed away.

People from all around the region converged on Lower Lyman Lake on the campus of Carleton College on Saturday night to take part in a "Memorial Water Lantern" event in honor of the 25th anniversary of Infants Remembered in Silence, Inc. (IRIS). The brief ceremony and the releasing of the lanterns was both emotional and therapeutic.

After making and decorating the lanterns, family members huddled together to remember a child who passed, and were comforted by one another before releasing the candle-lit lanterns into the lake.

The event was one of 25 events the nonprofit will be holding for those remembering a child who has passed away.

IRIS was founded in 1987, is a 501c3 Non-profit organization based in Faribault, and offers parents, family, friends, and professionals support, education, and resources on the death of a child during all stages of pregnancy, from stillbirth, premature birth, neo-natal death, sudden infant death (SIDS), birth defects, illness, accidents, and all other types of infant and early childhood death.