The Book for Mary's Children

In case you haven't been reading this blog, a good friend of mine died on May 3rd. She was thirty-three and had just given birth a week earlier to her third child.

Having children myself, I couldn't - didn't want to - imagine Mary's children growing up without knowing their mother, so I decided to make a scrapbook for them and asked some of her friends to write about Mary, letters that I would include in the book.

Today, I finished it. In a way I am glad that it is done, so that I can finally give it to her children and her family and they can fill it with pictures and letters themselves, sharing memories about this beautiful woman, wife and mother for her children to cherish as they grow up.

But... I'm sitting here crying as I type this because now that it is finished... While I was working on it, I felt a connection to Mary. We had lost her, but she was still something I could hold onto while I spent many bittersweet hours making this book for her children. She's gone. She's really gone. And I have to let go.

(Image heavy under the cut...)