This week I will encourage readers of this Warm Thoughts column to light a candle on Sunday, December 12th. When your child and perhaps your grandchild dies in a family, the world changes and you will never be the same person. Life goes on, but priorities change, and remembering the child who has died is an important way of traveling through your grief journey. The holiday season is especially difficult, as old traditions often give way to new or more meaningful traditions that help to remember the child, sibling, or grandchild or great grandchild who has died.

This is the reason why The Compassionate Friends created the Worldwide Candle Lighting. The Compassionate Friends is a self-help bereavement organization for families that have experienced the death of a child. All the readers of this warm thoughts column are invited to light a candle at 7:00 pm local time on December 12th. During the worldwide candle lighting, the candles are first lit in New Zealand and then an hour later in the next timezone, eventually encircling the globe and virtual 24 hour wave of light. So we remember all children who have died, no matter their age or country of origin.

For more information on this touching tribute, visit the compassionate friends at www.compassionatefriends.org or call 877-969-0010. You may place a memorial message in the online Remembrance Book. I do hope the readers of this Warm Thoughts column will participate in the Worldwide Candle Lighting in remembrance of all children who have died. The loss of a child, no matter the age or circumstances is one of life's hardest blows.

Another Warm Thought: Lighting a candle is a simple and compassionate way to remember the children who have died. Light a candle on December 12th at 7:00pm and remember every child who is no longer with us. May God Bless America and our world!

Warm Thoughts from the Little Home on the Prairie Over a Cup of Tea by Dr. Luetta G. Werner.

Published in the Marion Record on December 12th, 2010.
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Till next time,

Trina