We were given the most thoughtful and beautiful gift after Ariana died. My parents bought us a selection of willow tree angels, specifically chosen convey our precious girl, the grief we were feeling and the hole left in our hearts by her loss. On opening the gift I promptly burst into tears, I loved it so much my heart hurt, but I couldn’t look at it. The pain was to fresh. I just couldn’t.  Not then.

It took some time, but I put them on Ariana’s shelf in our lounge room. Sometimes I would find myself sitting alone, tears running down my face and then I would realize I was staring at those angels. The elicit a visceral response in me, even today.

When Oliver came along, the angels affected me in a new way – the grief that Oliver was shielded from our pain, that he would never know his sister, that even though he would grow up knowing of her, he would never feel as we did about her. Looking at my angels up on the shelf surrounded by Ariana’s very few belongings, her memory boxes and trinkets there has been something missing. Our family, the willow tree angel family has not been complete. Leaving it as it was, leaving those statues as they were gifted to us in that moment seemed logical. But grief is rarely logical and Oliver is a part of our family too, which part of this would belong to him? He was to be our gift from Ariana, surely there was something we could place there to complete the picture of our journey?

This Mothers day morning as I unwrapped my gifts from my two beautiful children I opened one that left me breathless.

An angel for Oliver, our Hope. He healed our hearts. Filling our arms with a rainbow returned a sense of wonder and joy to our lives. This piece… I am breathless at how perfect it is. As silly as it may seem, at least on that shelf, our family is complete at last.

Happy Mother’s day, beautiful friends. For those whose hearts have been broken and are yet to heal I pray you find peace in this day. For those who are fortunate enough to hold their children in their hearts and their arms enjoy each second with them. Time is a precious gift, treat it as such.