A writing I strongly agree with

shared by Nancy Mathewson

My son, Dominic John, died of SIDS Sept 17, 1976. I think this is a wonderful way for SIDS information to be distributed far & wide. Thanks for the work you are doing.

As I was cleaning & moving things around today, I came across a packet of grief material. One of the writings in that packet really states how I feel and I think it gives a peaceful acceptance to our grief.

27 Jun 1998

A DEATH HAS OCCURRED

A death has occurred and everything is changed.
We are painfully aware that life
Can never be the same again,
That yesterday is over,
That relationships once rich have ended.

But there is another way to look upon this truth.
If life now went on the same,
Without the presence of the one who died,
We could only conclude that the life we remember
Made no contribution, filled no space, meant nothing.

The fact that this person left behind a place
That cannot be filled
Is a high tribute to this individual.
Life can be the same after a trinket has been lost,
But never after the loss of a treasure.

Paul Irion

Reprinted from the book, Remembering With Love: Messages of Hope
for the First Year of Grieving and Beyond.
Elizabeth Levang and Sherokee Ilse, Deaconess Press, 1992.