Lighting Up the Heavens in 2002
The Light
Millennium Candles
For Breanna Marie.....our
sweet angel......
ONE LITTLE CANDLE
A Candle for Your Child
Candles in the Night
For Children's
Memorial Day Worldwide Candle Lighting December 10, 2000
LIGHT A CANDLE
Lights of Love
~ In The Light ~
~ Candles In December ~
A special gift to all of us in Remembrance of World Wide
Candlelighting and National Children's Memorial Day - Dec. 8
Lighting Up The
Heavens in 2002
by Kaye Des'Ormeaux
Soon it's time for the Candlelighting Ceremony.
It's scheduled for the 8th of December.
A precious time of the year for loved ones to assemble;
Sharing memories as they sadly remember.
Families will gather around & in each state.
Because unfortunately no state is left out.
Children are taken from us all over the world.
Grieving parents know what this is about.
They may have lost their child just recently.
Or lived years through the nightmare.
Either way, the pain is still fresh this day.
And they share it with others who care.
Some parents can't seem to survive their loss.
While others can't seem to comprehend.
But they all can come together to light a candle;
To memorialize their child with a friend.
They share memories of their child with others.
Meanwhile holding a candle they light.
I like to imagine that the Angels & your children
smile at the flames so beautiful & bright.
This Candlelighting Ceremony began years ago.
One mother sitting alone in her grief.
Now, it has become a part of so many hearts.
Hearts who say it helps them find relief.
So, no matter where you are or go this year,
I pray it truly gives peace to you.
And I pray that each one may feel their child's touch ...
While Lighting Up The Heavens in 2002.
~Kaye Des'Ormeaux~
Copyright 2002
KDezamo@aol.com
The Light
A flame shines in the darkness,
A single, flickering light;
A candle held in memory,
Dispelling the darkness of night.
A candle filled with memories,
It speaks a sweet child’s name;
And shines a light for all to see,
In a single, flickering flame.
Soon other candles join the light,
Then thousands fill the sky;
Illuminating the darkness,
Proving love will never die.
Allison Chambers Coxsey
c2002
Allison's Heart...Poetry to touch the heart and soul
http://www.allisonsheart.com/index.html
MILLENNIUM CANDLES
For National Children’s Memorial Day and 4th Annual Worldwide Candle
Lighting
December 10, 2000
As December’s second Sunday
Does approach its 19th hour...
Special sunset for this one day
Of exquisite Candle Power!
Starting in the Land Down Under
As the strokes of seven chime,
Waves so bright—rip night asunder
“...that their light may always shine!”
Lustrous gleams worldwide are glowing,
Circling this earthly sphere,
Love, remembrance we’re showing
For beloved children, dear!
Dancing lights each tell a story,
Represent a precious one,
Send them shimmering up to Glory,
Let our beams eclipse the sun!
Down concentric paths we’re roaming
Moving o’er the grassy park,
Singing softly in the gloaming,
Whisper names ‘round velvet dark!
Now, ‘tis thru ‘til next December,
Tho’ the candles flicker still,
Sparkling stars we do remember,
In our hearts, and always will!
Vicki Douglas-Otto TCF, Tucson, Arizona
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For Breanna Marie.....our
sweet angel......
Like a candle your light dances on the wall of my heart
Contained within yet reflected without
And like this wax, my heart melts
Sadly, into a shape unknown
Like a candle your flame burns, silent and true
Constant, throughout me
And like this heat, my heart warms
Tenderly, to thaw the chill within
Like a candle your scent fills the recesses of my mind
Sweetly, fondly lingering
And like this fragrance, my heart awakes
Gently, to sweeten those surrounding me
Like your life, this candle flickers bravely
In the harsh winds of an unfair life
Leaving me to ponder
The rising of your soft silent smoke
So I shall light this candle for you
And remember still your light that shines within
Where no wind or rain or earthly trial
May ever extinguish your bright, warm, sweet flame
Eternally Yours,
Mom & Dada Colin & Corinne Wensley
Regina, Canada
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ONE LITTLE CANDLE
I lit a candle tonight, in honor of you
Remembering your life, and all the times we'd been through.
Such a small little light the candle made
until I realized how much in darkness it lit the way.
All the tears I've cried in all my grief and pain
what a garden they grew,watered with human rain
I sometimes can't see beyond the moment, in hopeless dispair
But then your memory sustains me, in heartaches repair.
I can wait for the tomorrow,when my sorrows ease
Until then,I'll light this candle, and let my memories run free
~written by Sheila Simmons, Dallas, GA
In Memory of Steven Simmons 3-24-70 - 10-19-99
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A Candle for Your Child
Today you will light a little white candle
and say aloud your child's name.
For one fateful day, your life was changed.
The holidays will never be the same.
Today you will light a little white candle
and hang an ornament on a special tree.
Who would have thought you would be in this place?
Sharing your child as a memory.
Today you will light a little white candle,
a small gesture to some others.
Here we share the pain of our loss,
with Mothers, Fathers, Sisters & Brothers.
Today you will light a little white candle,
and as you gaze into the flame,
may comforting memories flood your mind,
as you proudly say your child's name.
Today you will light a little white candle,
With us your compassionate friends...
For all of us know that though they're not here,
our Love for Them NEVER ends.
Tammy Tobac for TCF service 1996 in memory of my brother Tommy Dolby
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Candles in the Night
Candles flame in darkness,
flicker, steadily glow,
bringing light from shadows
and help to soothe us so.
Our daughter, like the candles,
gave our lives true light.
We use the candle's beacon
to connect us in the night.
As we light the candles,
our wish and our request
is that she'll see our signal
and know our love's expressed.
As her light joins our light
our worlds touch and flame
As we put the candles out
we softly say her name...
~written by Genesse Bourdeau Gentry,
from her collection of poetry, Stars
in the Deepest Night - After the Death of a Child
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For Children's
Memorial Day Worldwide Candle Lighting December 10, 2000
We light these candles in the winternight
Reminding our world of grief and loss.
We are a part of love, in tender league
With grievers everywhere a part of us.
A slow and shiny dance of candlelight
Now makes its way from hand to loving hand
For children who were once by our side
But have their home now in another land
The chain of candles sends its gentle glow
Around the planet as the hours pass
And every candle carries joyful tears,
A song of light to celebrate what was.
The children are with us, a friendly band,
They know the meaning of these candles best
They hear the love, they see the message move
Around the world, alive from east to west.
Let our candlelight remind the world
That all the children who have left this life
And all the children who are with us now
Are kindred spirits when they first arrive.
And as the candlelight sends forth its glow
'cross artificial borders man invents,
let our children say again
" we know that peace on earth must be what life intends."
Now in the sky, the peaceful stars behold
Not only what we do, but what we mean --
Be our memories new or scarred and old,
The stars will not forget what they have seen.
We light these candles in the winternight
Reminding our world of grief and loss.
We are a part of love, in tender league
With grievers everywhere a part of us.
By sascha - © 1999
Initially written for the Global Candle Lighting in Denver, at the request
of Helen Holden, TCF Chapter Leader, Loretta's mother.
Reprint permission to The Compassionate Friends
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LIGHT A CANDLE
And I will light a candle for you.
To shatter all the darkness and bless the times we knew.
Like a beacon in the night.
The flame will burn bright and guide us on our way.
Oh, today I light a candle for you.
The seasons come and go, And I'm weary of the change.
I keep moving on, you know it's not the same.
And when I'm walking all alone, Do you hear me call your name?
Do you her me sing the songs we used to sing?
You filled my life with wonder,
Touched me with surprise,
I always saw that something special deep within Your eyes.
And through the good times and the bad,
We carried on with pride.
I hold onto the love and life we knew.
~Paul Alexander
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Lights of Love
Can you see our candles
Burning in the night?
Lights of love we send you
Rays of purest white
Children we remember
Though missing from our sight
In honor and remembrance
We light candles in the night
All across the big blue marble
Spinning out in space
Can you see the candles burning
From this human place?
Oh, angels gone before us
Who taught us perfect love
This night the world lights candles
That you may see them from above
Tonight the globe is lit by love
Of those who know great sorrow,
But as we remember our yesterdays
Let's light one candle for tomorrow
We will not forget,
And every year in deep December
On Earth we will light candles
As................we remember
Written by TCF Member Jacqueline Brown
For National Children's Memorial Day
Jacqueline Brown
Peace Valley TCF, New Britain PA
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~ In The Light ~
A shadow of joy flickered; it is me.
I told you I wouldn't leave.
My spirit is with you.
My memories, my thoughts are imbedded deep in your heart.
I still love you.
Do not for one moment think that you have been abandoned.
I am in the Light.
In the corner, in the hall, the car, the yard --
these are the places I stay with you.
My spirit rises every time you pray for me,
but my energy comes closer to you.
Love does not diminish, it grows stronger.
I am the feather that finds you in the yard,
the dimmed light that grows brighter in your mind,
I place our memories for you to see.
We lived in our special way, a way that now has its focus
changed.
I still crave your understanding and long for the
many words of prayer and good fortune for my soul.
I am in the Light.
As you struggle to adjust without me, I watch silently.
Sometimes I summon up all the strength of my new world
to make you notice me.
Impressed by your grief,
I try to impress my love deeper into your consciousness.
As you should, I call out to the Heavens for help.
You should know that the fountain of youth does exist.
My soul is now healthy.
Your love sends me new found energy.
I am adjusting to this new world.
I am with you and I am in the Light.
Please don't feel bad that you can't see me.
I am with you wherever you go.
I protect you, just as you protected me so many times.
Talk to me and somehow I will find a way to answer you.
Mother, father, son or daughter it makes no difference.
Brother, sister, lover, husband or wife, it makes no difference.
Whatever our connection-friend or even foe-I see you with
my new eyes.
I am learning to help wherever you are,
wherever I am needed.
This can be done because I am in the Light.
When you feel despair, reach out to me.
I will come.
Our love for you truly does transcend from Heaven to Earth.
Finish your life with the enthusiasm and zest that you
had when we were
together in the physical sense.
You owe this to me, but more importantly, you owe it to
yourself.
Life continues for both of us.
I am with you because I love you and I am in the Light.
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~ Candles In December
~
My sadness seems reflected in the music that I hear....
Every young one's glowing face reminds me you're not here.
Shoppers crowd the festive stores, emotions all run high
This world I was a part of once, seems to pass me by.
This season's meant for happy times, for Love,
warm hearts, and cheer, But grieving families around the
world remember those not here.
We struggle through the season, lighting candles to proclaim,
Our children aren't forgotten, round the world our candles
flame.
I slowly pass through the gates thrown wide,
one clear, cold Christmas day,
No toys or playthings do I bring---- those are gifts of
yesterday.
I carry with me just a polished heart of granite made.
and walk with grief to where my baby lies,
in a silent silvered glade.
"Merry Christmas, Love" I whisper,
the quiet words seem so forlorn,
"I've brought my heart for you to keep, my gift
this Christmas morn.
It is filled with all my love,
though this one's carved of stone,
I'll place it here----- it will be near---- you'll never
be alone."
We parents don't forget, my love, this month we will unite
To honor all we'll light a wall of candles through the
night.
The world will know our memories glow with love
that's deep and true
We'll stand as one and before it's done
the Heaven's will know too.
Please keep my gift, Beloved child, close to where you
lie
and know my love surrounds you' til the day I too shall
die.
On the thirteenth of December My candles flame will light
I pray you'll see the love we'll free into the starry
night.
Sally Miglaccio, TCF Babylon, NY
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Special Graphics Created by Sonya Marvel
Marvel Creations
Mercer
University. She teaches nursing students about the experience of grief
throughout their baccalaureate curriculum and has developed a nursing course
entitled “Caring in Times of Death, Dying and Bereavement.”
