All Saints Day

When Paul and I celebrated the Rite of Naming in June after Abby passed away, we got to write her name in the Book of Life.  This book is used to write all the names of the parishioners that have passed away that year.  Then on All Saints Day, they sing each of the names and hold up a candle to honor that person.

After a lot of thought, I decided to invite some of our close friends that have helped us through this journey and our family to be with us that day to celebrate Abby with us. 

The day came and the outpouring of love and support was nothing short of amazing.  We definitely felt loved and supported that day.  As much as I really wanted to be strong and not cry because we were celebrating that Abby is in heaven, I did have a few selfish moments where I felt sorry for myself that she won't be here with us.  I know she is in a much more amazing place and if she had to choose, she'd probably stay in heaven with Jesus!

Throughout this journey, I read a quote that said, "A mother's role is to protect her baby.  When that baby passes away, a mother's role is to protect the baby's memory."  That isn't easy when people don't have memories of her.  But being part of the mass not only publicly recognized her, but celebrated her and for that, I am so grateful. 

After we lost Abby, I was told about a woman in Australia that lost her baby boy.  She has a dream that he was by a beach, writing his name in the sand.  The next night at sunset, she went to the beach, wrote his name in the sand and photographed it.  It was beautiful and many others asked her to do the same for their angels.  Now, she's taken over 17,000 photos for grieving parents.  She only opens her list for a few hours each month because the requests just pour in.  I was lucky enough to get on her list a few months back.  This is the amazing photo she created for us.  Such a treasure!