1 March, Saturday, East Coast Park
Dear Ashley baby Last Saturday, 1 March 08, Mummy and Daddy attended the Annual Children's Memorial organised by Child Bereavement Support. It's the 2nd time CBS is organising this mass memorial and also the 2nd time we're attending it. We went with a heavy heart and neither of us spoke a word during our long drive there. Last year, we were mourning only 1 child - your Nathaniel KorKor. This year, 3 - with the addition of you and Joash. :( Sometimes we still don't understand why God have to call all 3 of you home so soon.
It was a really beautiful and dignified memorial with poetry readings, songs, recitation of children's names and mass balloon release at the end. We released 1 balloon each to all 3 of you at the end of the memorial. Did you receive it? Do you like what mummy has drawn on the card? It's a rainbow which reminds mummy that God's love and mercy are new every morning, even as I still struggle to accept losing you and your KorKors...It's a very silent grief not known to many for it is against the law of Nature for a parent to bury his child.
Of the poems that were recited, Mummy and Daddy found solace in this (I can almost hear you reading this Ashley):
You can Shed Tears by David Harkins
You can shed tears that he is gone
or you can smile because he lived
You can close your eyes and pray that he will come back
or you can open your eyes and see all that he has left
Your heart can be empty because you can't see him
or you can be full of the love that you have shared
You can turn your back on tomorrow and lived yesterday
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday
You can remember him and only that he is gone
or you can cherish his memory and let it live on
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back
or you can do what he would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.
Mummy and Daddy misses you Nathaniel, Joash and Ashley. No baby would be able to take your place in our hearts. You're forever with us.
