Love them by the way you live

Photo by Greg Lincoln

by Greg Lincoln

In every person that we meet we have found different expressions of loving kindness and compassion. Do you know how much that means to us? It means the world to us, thank you so much. It is like a healing salve to we who are so desperately bruised and traumatized. You are teaching us how we all need to be – to love and help one another when things aren’t going so great.

The loss of a precious child is the most greatest of tragedies, there is no other trauma or calamity so devastating. It tops the all-time record of pains because they are our own flesh and blood, our loves and wants, our hopes and dreams, our past and our future.

Day after day we have been replaying and imagining in our minds what we could have done, or what should have happened. It has been one of the most painful parts of this dreadful journey that we have been destined to trod. Why do we keep replaying and imagining over and over? Because we are living a nightmare.

Sometimes the reality hits us like a heavy blow to the stomach that floods us with physical gut-wrenching debilitating pain. Our hearts jump with shock, our stomachs hurt, our heartbeats are racing, as the most awful thing a parent should never ever hear flashes back over and over before our eyes and in our minds as clear as day. This happens frequently and each time hurts as bad as the first time. We succumb to tears and end up crying our hearts out and we are left feeling so weak and tired.

It is from having a broken heart. Parents, please love your babies like you’ve never loved before. Show your love to them by the way you live.

Friends, thank you for your continued sweet aftercare to our family. We have received your cards and loving emails and have been encouraged by your acts of kindness and compassion, no matter how small – we remember them all. Thank you for standing by with your steadfast friendship and support to us, we appreciate it so much.

Slowly, ever so slowly, we are feeling something. Some of these beautiful feelings comes from our beloved pets. We have our daughter’s puppy with us – he was hers and she was his world. She was meant to find him and he became hers because that is who she is – beautiful through and through, caring, kind, sweet, loving all of God’s creatures. He became ours too because he belongs to her, whatever is hers becomes ours also. He fills us with such bittersweet love because he is a piece of her – a part of her that we can still hold and wrap our arms around. Every day we show how how much we love having him with us. He loves us back with his kisses and the unconditional love that animal friends give. He brings us comfort.

We hope that every grieving parent can also find comfort. We are all connected to each other, we understand and it binds us together.

Maybe someday we will look back at these columns and think about how we made it after all the years, because make it we must. We thank the Lord for your prayers and your good thoughts for our family. Thanksgiving was a blessing, we hope yours was wonderful. Please remember those who are bereaved and grieving, quyana.