Running: Ian's Story

Parents who have never had the opportunity to hold the child they lost often find comfort by retreating to a special place in their imagination. In this place, their own patented version of heaven, they see this child, they kiss the tiny cheek, and they grasp the searching fingers in their own. Although they cannot show this child human love, they pray the angels will, and they imagine him or her being held closely. They imagine her forehead being kissed by an angel. They see him running with his friends. They see her sharing a smile with her best friend.

If they have lost their child to an illness, disease, or tragic accident, they picture that child as healthy, whole, innocent, and beautiful. They see that little personality developing in a warm environment of growth, acceptance, and love.

Memory and imagination are wonderful gifts. Perhaps God gave these gifts to His creation because it is through these venues that healing takes place--peace may only come after a lifetime of remembrances. These imagined scenarios are often discouraged by some who feel that to forget is the answer. However, God understands the grief of parents who have lost a child. He realizes that sometimes the thread of imagination is what parents cling to until that day when they will hold that child ... perhaps for the very first time.

This story comes from the imagination of one who often visits this special place where life continues for lost children.