Tarpon Springs, NYC... The Thin Blue Line

May the families, friends, communities find comfort with each other in some way, in some time, in some place. Thank you officers for your service.

My heart is heavy.

The Compassionate Friends will soon light the night sky; Remembering

As December begins, the hustle and bustle of the holidays, many are missing those who have gone before us. Many many are filled with memories when their lives were brighter somehow but now stand in the sea of grief. The holidays can be harsh for those missing loved ones. It is soon to be the time when folks will gather around the globe to remember the children, ALL the children who have died. 

The Compassionate Friends will once again bring together what is perhaps the largest gathering of folks to light the candles in remembrance of those children, ALL children, all ages, all causes who are "gone too soon".

Worldwide Candle Lighting

 
 People will gather, in large and small groups around our globe  in fellowship. Some for the first time, in shock, in numbness, with such profound new grief. 
They will be met by others who have walked grief's path; others will join once again  with hugs and that knowing look in their eyes. They have walked a path of pain, of such loss that brings them together in unity.. Some will arrive around 6pm to help set up the room, they will break bread together, some will have music playing as they find their seats, as they look for familiar faces, or see themselves in the faces of others.

At 7pm they will be lighting candles for one hour to honor, to stand, to share the light of those no longer here.
Imagine the sight around our globe and the light of healing.

visualize the memories of the sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and grandchildren who left too soon. As candles are lit at 7:00 p.m. local time, hundreds of thousands of people join their love and energy as they  commemorate and honor the memory of all children gone too soon.

Many who cannot attend, many who have not lost their own child, but love and care deeply, will also be lighting candles in or at their homes. It is powerful, it is healing, it is for the children, and also for those still here. IT is a flame to inspire those holding those candles to embrace the light.

Now believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, the 17th annual Worldwide Candle Lighting, a gift to the bereavement community from The Compassionate Friends, creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone.

 Started in the United States in 1997 as a small internet observance, but has since swelled in numbers as word has spread throughout the world of the remembrance. Hundreds of formal candle lighting events are held and thousands of informal candle lightings are conducted in homes as families gather in quiet remembrance of children who have died, but will never be forgotten.

When we talk about children; we talk about the tiniest to those who have grown. To those who died suddenly, those with rare or common disease, to those who went to bed and never woke up, to human error in medical settings, to those who made bad choices, to those who were victims of accidents, of horrendous happenings.

All were; ALL ARE LOVED beyond measure by someone; parents, siblings, grandparents, communities, friends. All are missed, all are mourned. All are remembered always.

The pain of grief has its way with folks during the holidays' ... it can be sneaky, it can be forceful. It can also be better handled when acknowledged, when faced...

Say their names, honor them.

Ask yourself: "How can I live my life as the legacy now?" "How would my loved one want me to dance now?"

I wish you the strength to heal, the desire to move into your holiday wanting to be more than the emotions that are sometimes so powerful that you find yourself wanting to scream.

Just SCREAM... and notice how your body feels, how you feel. Know that is ok, if that is what you need to do. 
Just keep moving, one step then two; working hard  to move on with life finding gratitude that you are still here to say their names and to live your life in a way that all are proud of.

Walk in beauty,

Check out where those gatherings are happening.
buckle up your courage, join us!


"So that their lights may always shine" the world will be lighting those candles.

I do believe we are also lighting those candles "so that their light reminds the holder of the candles that they can; if they choose, to shine on, differently... yet brightly within"


Know that you are being thought of around the globe, and that we will light those candles together so that their lights may shine brighter.

 
DRSES