Dear Dr. LeCrone:
“Several years ago I lost a child and found the following passage to be of great help. Please pass this on to your readers. It was written by Vickie Tushingham and entitled Just For Today For Bereaved Parents.”
Just for today I will try to live through the next 24 hours and not expect to get over my child’s death, but instead learn to live with it just one day at a time.
Just for today I will remember my child’s life, not his death, and bask in the comfort of all those treasured days and moments we shared.
Just for today I will forgive all the family and friends who didn’t help or comfort me the way I needed them to. They truly did not know how.
Just for today I will smile no matter how much I hurt on the inside, for maybe if I smile a little, my heart will soften and I will begin to heal.
Just for today I will reach out to comfort a relative or friend of my child, for they are hurting too, and perhaps we can comfort each other.
Just for today I will free myself from my self-inflicted burden of guilt, for deep in my heart I know if there was anything in this world I could have done to save my child from death, I would have done it.
Just for today I will honor my child’s memory by doing something with another child because I know that would have made my own child proud.
Just for today I will offer my hand in friendship to another bereaved parent, for I do know how they feel.
Just for today when my heart feels like breaking, I will stop and remember that grief is the price we pay for loving and the only reason I hurt is because I had the privilege of loving so much.
Just for today I will not compare myself with others. I am fortunate to be who I am and to have had my child I had for as long as I did.
Just for today I will allow myself to be happy, for I know that I am not deserting him by living on.
Just for today I will accept that I did not die when my child did, my life did go on, and I am the only one who can make that life worthwhile once more.
Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 2000
Hi.
I’m an experienced Clinical Practitioner, Administrator, Professional Writer, and Lecturer.
