Connections
There are at least three things that connect us.
- Identity: We have become moms, and every day is Mother’s Day once you are a mom. Whether your child is with you physically or not, you are still a mom. I am Sawyer’s mom, and I will always be his mom. We may struggle with our identity after the loss of a child, because being a mom is the best and most important joy of our lifetimes.
- Loss: We have physically lost our children. This may have happened years ago or recently. The loss is tremendous no matter the lapse of time.
- Wish: We wish things had gone differently, or that we could travel back to that horrible day and change everything to save our children.
It is these connections, I wish we didn’t share, that bring us together. Though we may not feel strong they make us strong for one another. I encourage us to feel the connections, and use them to support the friends we have found in our pain. They may help us find comforting words to say or to understand that we need to grieve and that’s okay.
–Tracy Bradshaw
(Sawyer’s mom)
“Brief is life, but love is long.” –Alfred Lord Tennyson
Upcoming Event
Candle Lighting Ceremony
Moms, friends, and family are invited to join us for this remembrance of our children, as we light memorial candles, share memories and enjoy a festive gift exchange to honor the loss as well as commemorate the joy that our children brought to our lives. Stay tuned as details are finalized.
but for the heart to conquer it.”
Mothers Day
Are fun and oh, so sweet
Sawyer was the one
Who brought me to my feetHe won the Mother’s Day contest
By writing what he loved most
Now when I look upon his paper
I tremble at the ghostHe said that I was so handsome
I guess he’d heard that a time or two
He was a kindhearted boy
Who naturally said, “I love you.”He kissed, and hugged, and cuddled close
Whenever he was glad
And with tears he climbed into my lap
Then I knew that he was sadHow I miss cuddling him
The days a kiss could fix what hurt
A little conversation about feelings
As he remained alertWhile reading him a book one day
Two pages stuck together
Though I truly didn’t recognize it
Sawyer showed he’d rather
Go back to the start and begin again
As this story was just not right
So we read from the beginning
How George could fly a kite
I have his Curious George stuffed toy
At times I get him out
He went on many family trips
When we traveled about
Once we traveled back to a hotel
As George was in the blankets there
Sawyer worried, cried, and fussed
As he suffered quite a scare
George was safe and sound
On the manager’s counter he lay
With thank yous we scooped him up
Vacation was saved that day
Oh, how I love to see the face
Of that little boy brighten
Simple little pleasures in life
His spirit they would heighten.
I wish like his children’s book
That we could start again
I’d find the thickest book for sale
And never read to the end
A longer life of him with me
Of love, and trust, and laughter
We’d celebrate one another
With a bond forever after.
Love, Mom
Mother’s Day 2014