COEUR d'ALENE - They stood in a circle, one candle lighting another until it became a bright circle of love and remembrance.

During the Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting ceremony Sunday in the Share Hope Memorial Garden, about 40 people spoke the names of their newborn daughters or grandsons, teenagers, little nephews, beloved sisters or friends' children who left this world before being able to experience it or leaving it painfully too soon.

"If you walk this road, you can understand and help others," said Judy Winzer of Coeur d'Alene.

Winzer proudly wore a round photo button of her son James. It is her "little badge" to carry the handsome young man with her always. He was only 18 when he was killed in car crash involving fog and a logging truck just a few years ago.

"By walking the road, you become authentic to help others that are on this journey," she said. "No matter what comes our way, you learn to deal with what life deals you and you carry on."

The Compassionate Friends Candle Lighting is a worldwide movement to support bereaved families that have experienced the loss of a child. The event in Share Hope Memorial Garden was sponsored by the Inland Northwest SIDS Foundation and included music, poems, refreshments, a five-candle ceremony and therapy dogs provided by Hope Animal Assisted Crisis Response.

"A lot of our parents are actually already here tonight," said Jina Copstead of Coeur d'Alene. Copstead is the meeting facilitator for Angel Blessings, a peer-to-peer support group for pregnancy and infant loss. "They're really looking forward to something amongst the community where we could all come together and celebrate the lives of our children, no matter how they were lost or how old they were."

Copstead experienced the loss of a twin pregnancy in 2008 and now works with others who have been through similar tragedies.

"It's nice to have the validation of being a parent even though our children may not be here anymore," she said. "To just kind of be able to show our faces into this silent community that nobody talks about, and be amongst other people that have the same heartache."

Many tears were shed during the ceremony, but many hugs and heartfelt words were also exchanged.

"It's nice to give back in some way," Copstead said. "Even turning a tragedy into something where you can reach out and hope somebody else's tragedy isn't as rough."

Info: www.inwsids.org, www.facebook.com/angelblessingsofnorthidaho or www.compassionatefriends.org.