~MY
TREASURE BOX~
When life is
overwhelming, my blessings hard to see,
I blow the
dust from my treasure box, and open carefully.
For held inside
this special box, are gems beyond compare,
Things I have
treasured, stored away with loving care.
Photos of my
angel, a lock of baby hair,
His first
pair of shoes, and baptismal wear.
Favorite blanket
as a child, books read and worn,
Notes of well
wishes for the day he was born.
Toys and stuffed
animals, cars of every kind,
Some well
worn from the hands of time
All are now
priceless, treasures of my heart,
Never with
any could I ever part.
Scrapbooks
filled with Mother’s Day cards,
All of them
he made, he worked so hard.
Stories he
had written, medals that he won,
I hold his
whole life story, the story of my son.
My hand reaches
for the letters, written when confused,
Life as a
teen-ager, which life path should he choose?
Mom I’ve met
a girl, as pretty as can be,
Think I’m
going to ask her, if she will marry me.
Gazing through
the album, his wedding filled with joy,
Then two years
later, expecting a baby boy.
His dreams
were my dreams; I still miss him so,
It’s been
two long years now that we had to let him go.
The memories
in my treasure box leave me with no doubt,
I was very
blessed for a time, in what love is all about.
When life
is overwhelming, my blessings hard to see,
I lift the
lid to my treasure box; he’s waiting there for me.
Memories
are all we have; they continue to sustain us, while we work towards adjustment
of losing our children. So many use the word recovery, or time heals, and
in the death of a child, neither of these things occurs. Recovery would
mean for us to be able to get back what we have lost, or, to be able to
return to our former state prior to our loss, and neither of these things
happens for a bereaved parent. Time does not heal, but time does allow
for us to be able to learn adjusting to life without our children in it.
We adjust to that empty seat at our holiday table; we adjust to singing
happy birthday to a picture. We adjust and learn to live with a hole in
our hearts.
As we grieve
and mourn their physical existence, the memories of our love for that child
grow deeper and deeper with time, and it is their memory that gives us
the strength to carry on. Their lives held meaning, they were treasures
on earth, and the world we live in is a better place thanks to their lives
and the lives that they touched while here with us. As long as we keep
their memories alive, they continue to live also, not only in our hearts
but also in hearts of all that were privileged to know them.
So when the
days get to hard to bear, take a few minutes and reflect upon the love
that they brought not only into our lives but the lives of others, and
take peace in that memory. God Bless each and every parent that has a child
in Heaven, for to be able to survive and still carry on after such a devastating
loss, you are not only a survivor, you are a role model of courage, strength,
and perseverance. May your child’s memory live on everyday of your lives,
in everything you do.
