The Binding Thread of Grief

 

When my daughter departed this earth everything brushed against the raw wounds of my grief, reminding me of Crystal.  A tilt of the head, a laugh, fragrance of candles, the beach, walking the neighborhood, places where she ate, attended daycare, schools, playgrounds, the Nutcracker Ballet, and the list goes on.  Even drawings of children who resemble her attracts my attention.  It often brings tears to my eyes and sometimes it's difficult to bear but I also can't let them go.  These binding threads of grief is gradually, bit by bit, becoming gifts of loving memories that can never be taken away.  So there is hope where loving memories can also bring smiles.  The binding thread of grief also brings treasures.  Crystal's artwork lifts my spirit and I use it to bring smiles to the lonely, isolated and elderly through non profit groups The Angel Card Project and Kind Cards for Cool Kids.  I used her artwork and added graphics and text for Valentines and mailed the cards to 100 people around the country.

Shadows of Grief

 

Crystal's friends held a memorial service for her on the banks of the Matanzas River at Helen Melton Schmidt Park located at Summer Island.    It's off the the beaten path, just the way Crystal would  have liked. They held the service in a small cove on the river bank.  They lit a sky lantern and release it into the clouds and it floated over the river and high above the horizon.  They threw flowers into the river.in her memory.  Every time we drive by the park, we think of her life's celebration by her friends but it is also brings out the shadows of grief that reminds us she is gone.  Grief is always in the shadows.