Texarkana mother turns tragedy into purpose
TEXARKANA, TX. (KTAL/KMSS) – In 2020, Sacoyle Baker's world shattered in an instant. Her partner, the father of her young son, was killed in a single-vehicle crash. Overnight, she became a single parent, and her worst fear became her new reality.
'Going overnight from having a very involved man there every single day with his son to now having to live out the only fear that I've ever had in life, which was being a single parent, was tough… wondering, our son was one at the time, wondering when do I tell him? When will he start asking questions?' she explained.
As the years passed, the questions got harder, and so did the milestones.
'I think about when he goes to school. They're going to create crafts for Father's Day and my son wasn't going to have a dad to give it to.'
But in the middle of the grief, she felt a calling to help others going through the same thing
In October 2024, Parenting Through Loss was born. A support group for parents navigating grief, built from Sacoyle's own heartbreak and healing.
At the first meeting, she wasn't sure anyone would come.
'I remember repeating to my family and my friends who came to help me set up: If one person shows up and walks through the door, I have served my purpose. And three people walked through the door. Then four,' she said through laughs.
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One mother told her she'd needed this sixteen years ago. Sixteen years of silent grief until she found Parenting Through Loss.
'To know that someone that has been walking this road ten years longer than I have and still trusts me and continues to show up month after month. That just does something to my heart,' says Baker.
Sacoyle Baker has now partnered with the Southwest Center and a local daycare offering emergency services. Parenting Through Loss is changing lives one meeting, one story, one hug at a time.
For Sacoyle, this journey isn't just about surviving, it's about becoming.
'I laid on my floor many a day crying, asking how am I going to do this? But I sit here five years later… and I fought so hard to be this woman. And just from myself to myself, it's like, we're doing it. We are doing it,' she says
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And though her partner can't be here to see it all, she knows exactly what he would say.
'I know for a fact he would say verbatim: I'm proud of you, babe. That's what he'd say. I'm proud of you, babe.'
If you or someone you know is navigating the pain of losing a partner while raising children, Parenting Through Loss meets monthly at the Southwest Center in Texarkana.
For more information, visit Parenting Through Loss or email them at parentingthroughloss@gmail.com
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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