Strangers' Generosity Helps Couple Through Tragedy

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FORT WORTH (CBS11) - Courtney Theus stood over the grave where she buried two sons, admiring their new gravestone.

"It's beautiful," she said.

When CBS11 first met her in May, she and her husband were visiting an unmarked plot.

"It just makes me feel a little sad it's not as decorated or as nice, because those were people, too. They were babies, but they were people," she said, at the time.

Her boys, Austin and Aden, died months apart, after she delivered prematurely twice in the same year.  Austin survived two hours. Aden died during labor.

Within an hour of hearing the family's story, CBS11 viewers donated the $2,500 necessary for a headstone.

"There was a lot of generosity being poured out that night and we were very overwhelmed," said Courtney. "It helps to be able to have that sense of closure and to know that I can come out here whenever I want and see their beautiful names."

It wasn't just money people gave, though. Many shared their own stories, too.

"The personalized letters and comments were so touching," she said.

One viewer even sent a handmade hooded cape for the baby Courtney's now expecting in November.

"I'm ready. I'm anxious," she said.

The girl, named Ila, is already farther along than her brothers were.

Reaching 24 weeks was a significant milestone.

"I just felt so great… a miraculous feeling," she said.

Courtney says her sons are still very much a part of her life, though.

One day, she knows, they'll be a part of their sister's, too.

"When my daughter gets a little bit bigger, I'll be able to bring her out here," she said.

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