Heavenward… Honoring A Deceased Child

There are many ways that you can honor your deceased child or babies. One of my favorite ways is through lantern sendoffs. This post was originally posted on No Holding Back in June 2013.

We touched our angels on this night. Our lanterns lit the night and warmed our hearts.

“If tears could build a stairway, and memories a lane, I’d walk right up to heaven and bring you home again.” ~unknown

Dusk began to fall and we gathered around the beautiful table. Dawn lovingly prepared a candle for each family represented.

9 families represented 20 angel babies. Barely known but deeply loved.

“Tonight we light this candle in memory of sweet Kathryn,” I choked out.

“A family is a circle of love, not broken by a loss, but made stronger by the memories. We remember.”

And then we lit lanterns and watched together as they lifted to the Heavens. To our babies. All 20 of them.

This is my favorite shot of the whole night. The ceremony was the night before Father’s Day. We don’t often talk about how Father’s handle the loss of their babies. This picture captures the love of a daddy as he sends his lantern to his beautiful baby girl, reaching toward Heaven.

Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs. Matthew 19:14

What is your favorite way to honor the memory of a loved one? You can find many ways that we found helpful in our book Sunshine After the Storm: A Survival Guide for the Grieving Mother.