CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS
Beyond the Christmas trees, the angels and the stars, and beloved carols..beyond the presents, the shopping, the baking and cooking....beyond all of these sights and sounds of Christmas...beyond all of these...there is HOPE.
Hope...for the bereaved parent; even at Christmas, one of the most painful times of the year, there is an essence of hope. Hope...it is hope that sustains us through the days of grief and anger and frustration and loneliness.
The hope that someday the pain of the deaths of our children will be eased. The hope that someday our smiles will be real. The hope is that once again we will laugh and love and cry completely without fear and hollowness. It is the hope that someday we can remember our children with a tenderness merely tinged with sorrow and not overwhelmed with it.
So it is that for each of you I would hope....peace, compassion, love, sympathy, understanding, sharing and listening. In the sharing of our grief with one another and in the emotional support we give to one another, we receive and understand all of these gifts.
Taken from a Compassionate Friends newsletter.