Quote I love

"How little remains of the (woman) I once was, save the memory of (her)! But remembering is only a new form of suffering." - Charles Baudelaire

It's Chloee's 4th Birthday...

Happy 4th Birthday Chloee
My baby girl should be 4 years old...

This year we are having a memorial birthday party at her graveside on Sunday, September 13th, 2009 the day she would have turned 4 years old.

We will have a light dinner at the graveside with cupcakes.
Then, we will be performing a random act of kindness in her memory at the cemetery.

This year, our service project is doing Random Acts of Kindness in Chloee’s memory. Please consider doing a random act of kindness in honor of Chloee this week and leaving her card. See below or www.missfoundation.org for more information.

About the Kindness Project
www.missfoundation.org

The Kindness Project began in October of 1997 as a way for families to honor their deceased child and to help themselves heal. Now, years later, more than 500,000 Kindness Project cards have been used around the world to perform random acts of kindness in memory of a child, parent, friend, or spouse who died before their time.

The idea is to perform random, usually anonymous, acts of kindness in your community. A little card is left behind so that the person who benefits from the kindness knows that someone's life and death continues to matter. This beautiful movement has helped thousands of families to heal and find positive outlets for their overwhelming grief.

The History of the Kindness Project

Joanne’s daughter, Cheyenne, died in July of 1994. It was the worst day of her life. She never imagined laughing or ever experiencing joy again.

She began to seek out ways to keep Cheyenne's memory alive to her family and to the rest of the world: She wanted to create a legacy. She wanted people to know that Cheyenne existed and, more importantly, she wanted to help change the lives of others because of her presence on this earth.

So she set out on various missions of random kindness. On a daily basis, she looked for opportunities to reach out and do something unexpected and unusually kind for someone else. Most often, strangers were the recipients of these good deeds. She began to feel a sense of peace in knowing that Cheyenne was the reason for my enlightening.

The Kindness Project blossomed out of the extraordinary experiences she had while doing things for others. Because truly miraculous things happen to our spirit when we reach out to help others, she sought a way to share that movement with others.

It is her hope that through the Kindness Project, we can make incredible transformations within our communities, in our families, and in ourselves. Just imagine if every person touched by death would participate in helping to transform the world into a gentler and more altruistic world! What an impact this would have on so many levels!

The Kindness Project reminds others that our children, and other loved ones, are so very important to us that we are willing to extend the life and love of our child and share it with others! It is a legacy that transcends death. It is a legacy of love.

My reason for living

My son, my reason for living...
He's learning how to take pictures! What a cutie pie. Here he is taking our picture. (He's getting his own kids digital camera for his birthday! shhhhh)

Tears of Rage: From Grieving Father to Crusader for Justice: The Untold Story of the Adam Walsh Case

***** (Note that this book contains specific details to many horrific crimes.)
A book written by America's Most Wanted's John Walsh about the abduction and murder of his son Adam Walsh.
A heart wrenching story of how Adam was taken from a family that adored him. He was abducted at a shopping mall and brutally killed and decapitated.
This book is hard core - honest and scary stuff but worth every read because of how amazing John and Reve' Walsh are. John Walsh is one of my heroes. It is so amazing what he has done to make sure Adam did not die in vain.
I aspire to be like John Walsh - in my own way - and to make my daughters proud like he - I'm sure - makes Adam proud.

Death of a Child Poem

A simple child,
That lightly draws its breath,
And feels its life in every limb,
What should it know of death?
by William Wadsworth

This poem is from an opening page of the book Tears of Rage: From Grieving Father to Crusader for Justice: The Untold Story of the Adam Walsh Case by John Walsh with Susan Shindehette