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Loved and Loss
A room for the people who are not here.
Names are kept here because somebody carried them in. Its door was opened on 7 September, the day the curator lost her only son, and it is not hers alone.
In memory
Her husband. David's step-father.
Disabled Vietnam Veteran. Railroad Chef.
He passed away on a Saturday morning. By the Monday evening she had found a grief support group, and what happened in that room sent her home to build SheHOPE.
Her only son
February 10, 1992 to September 7, 2017
He lived his entire life with bipolar schizophrenia.
Lost to suicide.
His name is written in the roots of the SheHOPE tree, with Faith, Love and Hope. His mother is a Mental Wellness advocate because of him.
In his memory
Can I tell my story? Now that I have your attention,
This phase of my life isn't the end, it is just a suspension.
See, I was running hard and I was breaking fast,
I was caught in a race that just wasn't meant to last.
This journey is real and I mean you no harm,
But sometimes life is just a series of storms.
The constant pounding can make a solid mind weak,
In the deepest of valleys and on the highest of peaks.
There are many battles along the path of pain and loss,
But every victory is won at the foot of the cross.
Life is just a mist that adds sight to air,
One moment it's gone, but at one moment it was there.
See, transitioning is painful, but the air moves on,
To many hollow places just beyond the stone.
But out over the ridge and just under the sun,
Oh I see His brilliance at the break of dawn.
I cry each time when I witness this sight,
My breath is labored and my fists are tight.
He's such a wonder that I see,
I'm so amazed HE'S looking back at me.
The message HE whispers so softly in my ear,
It came with light, it came with fire, and it came with a tear.
Welcome home son, the race is won,
You see everything you did? It had to be done.
HE knew my journey even before I could speak,
HE leaned in close and GOD kissed my cheek.
Prisoner of Hope
Beyond The Grave in The Journey of Hope, with the lyrics as they are sung.
A second song for David, out of a dream of the dark and the light ahead.
“We slow for each other, we hear the cry,
We don't leave, we don't leave behind”
Don't Leave Me, in The Journey of Hope, with the dream she woke from.
If David's life, story, or memory has touched you, you may light a lantern in his memory.
One light. One remembrance.
No name or message is collected when you light a lantern. The lantern simply records that a light was placed here in David's memory.
6 lanterns lit.
“You put lanterns in my lungs,
And ribbons in the air I breathe,”
Hope makes me feel safe enough to live, in The Journey of Hope.
No name has been offered here yet. When one is, it stands here with whatever the person who carried it in wanted said.
If you are carrying someone
Anyone can read this room. Offering a name asks you to sign in, or to join if you have no account yet, so there is a person behind every name. Who offered a name is never shown here.
Names are placed by people the curator knows, so this asks you to sign in first.
