Tonight's picture was taken in November of 2002. Mattie was 7 months old and wanted to be up on his feet and walking. Mattie never crawled and he did not like being contained or sitting in one place. His two favorite things to do were either to be riding in a back pack or to be toddling around with support. Ironically Mattie was a late walker. As his mom, I realized that he had his own time line for doing things, and only did physical milestones when he deemed he was ready.
Quote of the day: Death ends a life, not a relationship. ~ Mitch Albom
We have friends in Oklahoma who sent me a message on Facebook last night. They wanted me to know that Okie Kids Playground (based in Oklahoma, and the company sounds a bit like Gymboree to me) is doing something special this year to help bereaved parents. They are hosting memory trees at their locations. Here is the message being posted:
All children are special and loved. We have a memory tree here at Okie Kids to celebrate those children who are not able to be here with us. During the holidays loss is so hard. Please bring and ornament for our tree in memory of a child forever loved and missed. We want to celebrate them this holiday season by remembering how special they will always be. #memorytree #lossofachild #youareloved #alwaysinourhearts @ Okie Kids Playground
I was very touched by our friend's message and by Okie Kids Playground's initiative. After all their services are geared toward children who are alive and active. Yet in the process of honoring their community, they are bringing awareness to the fact that holidays are not joyous, happy, or normal for some of us. It comes to no surprise to me that the founder of this company is a bereaved parent and has the personal insight to know that child loss impacts one's life forever.
I would like to say that this Christmas, which marks the tenth holiday without Mattie, will be easier for us. But that just isn't how it goes. That is how others may perceive our situation, but unfortunately with child loss time doesn't make things better. It just makes it more familiar.
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