Sunday was the annual Celebration of Life Memorial Service for children that have passed away at Childrens Mercy Hospital. Despite becoming ill that morning, we went to the ceremony.
The girls left messages for Abby on butterflies and placed them on the rememberance tree.
"When you must be patient
In loss or defeat
Or the sorrow that life sometimes brings,
Remember - in time,
From a plain, brown cocoon
Comes the beauty of
Butterfly wings."
This year's speaker was a gentleman that works at CMH who lost his sister to cancer 25 years ago to cancer when he was only 4. One of my fears has always been that Mady would forget things about her sister. At only 6, I was not sure how much her mind would retain from their years together, but listening to him speak, some of my fears and worries were put to rest. He sitll thinks of his sister every day and was choked up telling his story this many years later. I am now confident Mady will keep at least some special memories.
This year's Litany of Remembrance~
We come today to remember our children and to face the mysteries of life and death.
As cocoons are transformed into butterflies, seeds into beautiful flowers, we, too, have been transformed by the lives of the children we are here to honor.
Their lives were far too brief, our time with them too short, but we give thanks for the gift of each hour, day, or year we had to know and love them.
Through our children, we have experienced the bittersweet mixture of joy and sorrow, laughter and tears. In these extremes, we have experienced grace and discovered new dimensions of love, hope and life.
Through these children, we are brought together in the fellowship of those who know the tension between intense love and the pain of suffering.
We are what we are today because we have dared to love these children, whose lives ended too soon. We are forever changed and blessed by the love we have shared with them. May we together give thanks for our children, as we remember them and entrust them to the embrace of God's eternal love.
Of course the girls' favorite part is the butterfly release.
Trade Your Skin
Who knew you'd trade your tender skin
For something finer, something thin?
An iridescent new blue suit,
to wear when sipping sour fruit.
Who knew you'd transform, by and by
from human form to butterfly?
With evyes that hide beneath your wings,
you watch on high for heavn'ly things.
Who knew you'd be an inscet fair,
and waft away on misty air?
Then pause and warm your wings in the sun.
You knew, my darling. You're the one.
~by Ann Ingalls
No comments:
Post a Comment