Drops of Jupiter

Our Mission

• Remember Rebecca Griffin, a heroic mama who sacrificed her life for her baby. 
• Support AFE families who have endured the tragedy of losing a mother to childbirth.
• Further the AFE Foundation’s legacy of research, outreach, and community.

Who is Rebecca Griffin?

Who Rebecca Griffin was: her personality, values, hopes, and adventures are a subject of which I am an avid learner, but will never become an expert. She was an international trade lawyer in Washington DC, a marathon runner, a Russia Peace Corps volunteer, a University of Arizona graduate, a fierce basketball/volleyball player, and a mother of three. As her daughter, we share striking physical similarities that garners the recognition of anyone who knew her: her laugh, tall stature, blonde hair, and blue eyes are all mirrored in me. My dad’s genes didn’t even try! Beyond that, everything else I know about my mama is pieced together by the limited stories I was told of her life growing up. The imprint she made in the 4 years we had together is painstakingly faded, but I cling to what my toddler brain remembers: the games she would play with me during bath time, eating Swedish fish and watching cartoons in the commutes home from daycare, or how she would always wind up my ballerina jewelry box before tucking me in. 

I remember the day my dad said she had died from an AFE (Amniotic Fluid Embolism) while giving birth to my younger brother. I didn’t cry. I was four years old, far too young to understand the finality of death or the profoundness of loss. As I grew older, the adults in my life tried to shield me from grieving her. Pictures of mama were taken down, talking about her became taboo, and people would tell me I couldn’t be sad because I didn’t know her. The only information I could extract about her was from photo albums or the romanticized comments others would make about her. I longed to know my real mom, a woman with insecurities and fears yet also strengths and goals. I am certain she would’ve wanted that, too.

For my college graduation, my dad gave me a timeless treasure that would catalyze the founding of this scholarship: a leather-bound journal engraved in gold with my full name, Ekaterina. It was a document my mama had started to record her favorite stories of me growing up. Receiving that journal was like making the most significant anthropological discovery of my life. Seeing the hand-drawn graph of my monthly height/weight progression or when she called me an “empathetic baby” was for me a cascading revelation: she was an exceptional mother. She wanted above all else to be a mother to me and my brothers, beyond what I have been told of her being a successful lawyer or globe trotter. AFE stole her maternal dream, but I will not allow her memory to be stolen as it has been for 18 years. For that reason, I decided to start the Rebecca Griffin Memorial Scholarship to revive her legacy.

Connection to the AFE Foundation 

The way I became connected to the AFE Foundation is almost too serendipitous to believe. During college, I volunteered at my church’s children’s ministry. After church one Sunday, the kid’s ministry director, Michelle, drove me back to the dorms and we started chatting about my family background. I gave the standard disclaimer that my mother had “died in a very rare childbirth complication no one knows about, called an Amniotic Fluid Embolism.” When I said this, Michelle’s face froze, and her next words are still a miracle to me today: “I actually have heard of it. My friend survived an AFE and created a nonprofit to connect families and find a cure. She lives about 30 minutes from here. Do you want me to connect you to her?” I was stunned. No one, not even doctors, had known what an AFE was! I always believed that 0.0025%, the percentage of pregnant women who suffer from an AFE, made it statistically impossible to ever meet anyone who had also experienced one. God truly revels in the impossible. Michelle’s friend was Miranda Klassen, the Executive Director of the AFE Foundation, an organization I never knew existed. A few weeks later, Miranda graciously visited me at my college campus and we quickly became friends. I was touched by her empathy and intimate understanding of what my family had gone through, and I knew I wanted to help propel her mission in whatever way I could. That summer, I interned with the foundation and have since been connected to other people in this tight-knit community. Their cutting-edge research and community engagement, fueled by the unwavering belief that no mother should die in childbirth, should be supported. I knew my mother would have wanted to prevent anyone else from the fate of a premature death. I wholeheartedly believe that this scholarship must exist to support people within the AFE community and I am honored to be working in conjunction with the AFE Foundation.

About the Scholarship

I feel extremely grateful to say that my university education was 100% funded through private scholarships. I want to give back in the form of a memorial scholarship because of how deeply it has impacted my life. However, this scholarship is unconventional because the recipient is able to use the funds for pursuits other than education: family vacations, summer camps, mission trips, health care…anything you can think of! Growing up, my family couldn’t afford to take trips together, and we were often burdened financially because my mama used to be the sole provider. I believe that AFE children and families are the most deserving of the chance to enjoy life, and I am thrilled to be able to give that to them through this scholarship. I like to think of it as a “Make a Wish” scholarship for AFE kiddos and families. In honor of my mama, special consideration will be given to applicants who are fluent in Russian or are hoping to pursue a career in law. The award will be in the amount of $1,228, a number of special significance because it was both mama’s birthdate and death-date. Bittersweetly, since my brother was born the day she died, mama ‘passed on’ December 28th to him. Please visit the Rebecca Griffin Memorial Scholarship website here: https://rebeccagriffinmemorialscholarship.org/ for more information and details on where to submit an application.

Contact Us

Katia Griffin, Scholarship Coordinator: katiagriffinn@gmail.com

Miranda Klassen, AFE Foundation Executive Director: miranda@afesupport.org