Just like all big occasions, Easter isn’t the same without Abi here. The girl who loved chocolate, egg hunts and holidays.

This is our second Easter without Abi, and while we’re keeping it low key again, this year I didn’t cry when I contemplated which chocolates to buy my other children so I suppose that would be considered ‘progress’. Only a flat feeling remains.

I feel low at this time in the Church calendar, as now I tend to focus on the gloom of the days leading up to Jesus’ death rather than the joy of his resurrection… I’m reminded of the painful days when we lost Abi.

 

Our supporters at Winstons Wish appreciate that times like this are difficult for the bereaved family, who might not know how to include their lost loved one in their ‘celebrations’. They gave us some blank Easter egg shapes to decorate (similar to the Christmas star idea) and so I decorated one to hang on her blossom tree. I also bought some pretty pink flowers to brighten up her memorial.

These gestures might be fairly simple, but they help us feel that she’s still very much part of our day.

But then, through the gloom, I’m always reminded of the blessing of my three other children. My six-year-old son and eleven-year-old daughter are doing remarkably well living with our grief, and my eight-week-old son reminds me daily that, through immense heartache, there is always hope.