For Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

My dear family and friends,

I’m so sorry I just cannot send out my regular newsletter or make an entry like I usually do in my journals today.

Yesterday was a day full of sorrow and tears for me and for my family.

I find it very difficult to even write the words down.

Saturday morning I received a call from a paramedic that was at DS#3’s house. He said that something had happened there and that the family requested that I come there to be with them as soon as I could get there.

My first thought was that maybe they had the wrong number or that it was some kind of prank call but I did see on my caller ID that the call was being made from my son’s house. I told the man that I would be there as quickly as I could but that I lived some distance away so it would take time for me to get there.

You cannot imagine what went through my head at the time. I quickly called DD and DS#5 who live the closest to me and asked if they would come with me. They quickly got dressed and were at my house in a matter of minutes and we were off; and did not know at all what we would find out when we got there.

DSIL drove and made record time across the Ohio Turnpike. Our guardian angels were with us as he wasn’t stopped by the Highway Patrol and we did make it there safe and sound.

The worst fear of every parent had happened. During the night my darling little 2 year old grand son had died. The death of a child is so unthinkable, so incomprehensible that the shock of this news will remain in my mind and heart forever.

The effects of a child's death are forever. There aren't words in the English language to describe what happens to a family when a child dies. There's nothing you can say or do to fix the situation.


There is no bond greater than the bond between parent and child. When a child dies, the pain of parental loss is near the top of the scale of human grief

Loss and grief, just like joy and celebration, are part of life but it is so very difficult to accept. It’s like your worse nightmare that never ends.


I grieve for my son and daughter-in-law suffering this tragic loss and my grief is compounded as I suffer my son’s and his wife’s pain at the loss of their son and I grieve for a beloved grandchild.

As a grandparent who has outlasted a grandchild, I struggle with a death that seems so out of order. Some times we justify death of an older person, knowing that they lived a full and good life, but this little baby was just beginning life.

Our family will all unite to create a circle of unwavering support as they always do. In good times and bad they are there for each other. One thing I know for sure, maybe two. With love you can endure just about anything and I do know that they all love each other very much. DS#3 and his wife’s loss is just as much our loss too.

Please keep my son and his wife and their two other children in your prayers. May our dear Lord comfort them and give them strength. It is just so hard for all of us right now.

And please pray for the safety of my family as they travel with heavy hearts. The journey home for Thanksgiving will not be what we had planned.

May my sweet little grandson rest in peace and may the perpetual light our Lord and Savior shine upon him.

The Broken Cord

We little knew that morning that God
Was going to call your name
In life we loved you dearly,
In death we do the same
It broke our hearts to lose you,
You did not go alone;
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home
You left us peaceful memories
Your loves is still our guide;
And though we cannot see you
You are always at our side.
Our family chain is broken,
And nothing seems the same
But as God calls us, one by one,
The chain will link again.


Author Unknown but deeply expressed by me.

‘On Ya’-ma