Sep 29, 2017

For Kelby: Love Beyond Loss

Welcome. You are invited to read the eighth in the series of stories told to me by parents who have lost beloved children. The following is the introduction to Kelby’s story which can be found in its entirety on my website.

“Its early spring and the weather can’t quite decide if it should bless us with a gentle shower and then blow away the gathering clouds to make way for sun or simply remind us that cold winds still have a place in our Colorado springtime. Hoping for sun to win the day, I make my way toward Dan and Ginny’s, stopping to study the front of their house. And then that yellow door jumps out at me! The couple’s front door is painted a bright, sunny yellow and seeing it makes me smile; though I know this is a home where grief arrived, it has not been allowed to consume the lives inside.

“Life has transformed. A family has become a couple who now only seek deeper, authentic relationships with others. Dan shares that now ‘the petty stuff goes away.’ No high drama allowed, the little things really mean nothing any more. ‘Our faith is so much stronger,’ Dan continues. He and Ginny have a God-centered marriage where prayer, surrendering problems into God’s hands, and knowing that you will see your child again are unfailing, living truths. ‘And every day is one day closer to my son who I will spend eternity with.’ Ginny looks over at Dan who gives her a small smile: ‘We both will.’

“This extraordinary couple, through their own intentional, courageous living, model the gracious beliefs contained in the following passage by Harold Kushner in When Bad Things Happen To Good People.

‘The facts of life and death are neutral. We, by our responses, give suffering either a positive or a negative meaning. . . . If suffering and death in someone close to us bring us to explore the limits of our capacity for strength and love and cheerfulness, if it leads us to discover sources of consolation we never knew before, then we make the person into a witness for the affirmation of life rather than its rejection.’"

The full story of Kelby’s loss has been posted on www.janenicoletauthor.com. Simply go to my site, hover your cursor over Books in the menu and navigate down to Parents Tell Their Stories.

As always, I wish you peace -

Jane