[Magdalen] "No parent should ever have to bury their child."

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

My wife every so often mentioned her brother Mark, who would have been a
little older than her. He was stillborn, and buried in Pittsburgh where
they were living at the time. My mother-in-law never spoke of Mark, but he
was a shadowy figure in the family that was never mentioned.

Christine did some checking and found, yes, they knew exactly where Mark
was resting, and she arranged to have a modest stone put on the grave, and
a picture sent to her mother. Helen was very grateful.  She had two
children who had lived, so she probably thought she ought to push this
memory away, but it was always there.

She was a marvelous seamstress, and got asked to assist in a group which
sews dresses for the still born children so they can be buried in an
appropriate garb. She told her daughter she was not sure she could bear to
do it, but after she simply got started, she found it fulfilling. Helen was
one of those people who would take absolutely any event that came her way
and find a way to make good come out of it, and I am so very privileged to
be married to her daughter, who has inherited a lot of that from her.


James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Sat, Oct 3, 2015 at 6:37 PM, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:

> In March of next year it will be 45 years since we buried our Benjamin, who
> lived three months. Benjie was born healthy and always seemed like a
> healthy baby, but I put him to bed one night and he never woke up. SIDS is
> a horrible thing and I don't think the newest "solutions" are the answer
> either. October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, just FYI.
>
>
>
> On Sat, Oct 3, 2015 at 4:28 PM, <thedonboyd at austin.rr.com> wrote:
>
> > Next month it will have been twenty-three years since our daughter Amy
> > (aged 24)was killed by a drunk driver.  I have no words of comfort for
> the
> > families of the ten who died in Oregon.   In time they will be able to go
> > on with their lives without being reminded of their loss at every turn,
> but
> > the event will prove to have profoundly changed their lives in ways they
> > cannot now foresee.
> >
> > Lord, have mercy.  Christ, have mercy.  Lord, have mercy.
> >
>