Remembering Our Children                                    

Any child's death is a tragedy regardless of age or circumstance. The death of a child is one of the most devastating and life-altering events that a parent can experience. Parents are supposed to die before their children. When a child dies before their parents this disrupts the order of life. The role of the parent is to protect their child and when a child dies, parents, to some degree, have this conception of perceived failure. 

Goal - Help parents cope with the death of their child.     

Remembering

Go ahead and mention my child,
The one who died you know.
Don’t worry about hurting me further,
The depth of my pain doesn’t show.
Don’t worry about making me cry,
I’m already crying inside.
Help me to heal by releasing
The tears that I try to hide.
I’m hurt when you just keep silent,
Pretending s/he didn’t exist.
I’d rather you mention my child,
Knowing that s/he has been missed.
You asked me how I was doing,
I say, “pretty good” or “fine”.
But healing is something ongoing,
I feel it will take a lifetime.

Author unknown

Updated: September 1, 2007