Missing Your Loved One at This Time of Year

During the holiday season is a fun time for most people. Those however who have lost someone very close to them in the past few years may not think so. It is a hard time as we remember what that loved one like to do over Thanksgiving and Christmas Days.

Our middle son Brendon loved Christmas. (He's in the stripy shirt). Thanksgiving was a holiday he never really enjoyed as the food was not to his liking. He spent most of the Thanksgivings he can actually remember in the hospital or unable to eat. I guess that was only two really. For me not being born in America, it kind of still has not sunk in but I am trying to celebrate the freedom that we have to live here and worship the Lord freely. I am conveying that to the boys. I think my husband does realize this too.

All I can say is 3 years and 1 month today a precious part of my heart disappeared to heaven and is missed every day, and more during these 'happy' times of year. Reach out and touch someone physically or with a phone call this week who has lost a precious loved one, or even those who have lost a job or home. They need to know they are important. Don't try to tell them everything will be okay, as sometimes it is not. Sometimes it takes a very long time for life to turn around and be okay.

Thanks for hearing my heart today. Brendon we miss you and we love you darling. Your smile will live in my heart forever.

THANKSGIVING TREE

It has been a week since doing my last review. I was away on a brief vacation with my husband in Kentucky. We had some time to unwind, some time to hike and some time to eat without worrying about little guys to feed. It was good for us.

Before I left I attended my local MOPS group and shared this unique idea with them about doing a Thanksgiving Tree with your children. There are many ways to do this but I have included a link that you can click through to that explains in more detail what to do. I think this is a cool idea.

Children or adults trace around their hands and/or feet to form the 'leaves' for the tree. You draw a trunk and branches for the tree on a big piece of poster paper or board. Then by cutting out the leaves and sticking or pinning them to the tree you have a memory of each year of what your family was thankful for during that year. The tree may be rolled up and kept safe or the leaves taken off and kept in the family picture album. Oh yes the children and you are supposed to write on those leaves what you are thankful for.

I included one of my husband's hands, two of mine, and three or four of our children. I also managed to trace a handprint from our son B, who passed away last year. I wrote things on it that he would have been thankful for if he was here. We had taken handprints of him on the night he died. It was a special way to include him in our Thanksgiving Holiday this year. Last year it did not mean much to any of us as we were not feeling very thankful.

Please link to their site and see how you can make your own tree in whatever size you want. I know of families that make an enormous one and put it on the back of a door (front door). then everyone who comes to visit over that weekend fills out a leaf or two and sticks it on. This makes an excellent memory of who was there and what they were thankful for too.

Heres the link again and a photo is posted of what ours looks like right now. We still have a few 'leaves' to fill in still. Enjoy.

http://www.familycorner.com/archives/familytime/2.shtml