Say His Name

Emile

AI generated

One of the heartbreaking parts of grieving for your child is when everyone stops talking about them. When I mentioned him, it was as if they became deaf. It broke my heart that I was the only person who wanted to remember him. Every time I mentioned him, they would try to change the subject.

I started avoiding social engagements, because my pain made everyone uncomfortable. My heart yearned to hear his name out loud. I wanted others to say his name, but all I heard was silence. He lived for almost 21 years, which is a lifetime. There was no way I could ever forget my son. He wasn’t a figment of my imagination. Why did everyone act as if he never existed?

My family and friends wanted me to get over it and move on with my life. You can’t “get over” the loss of your child. Their avoidance of mentioning my son didn’t make me stop missing and loving him. It didn’t help me get over him, it broke my heart.

He meant everything to me, and their actions made me feel that he meant nothing to them. They wanted to forget him as soon as possible, whereas I clung to his memory. That was all I had left of my beautiful Emile. I couldn’t hug him or call him, I only had my memories.

I now know that they didn’t want to upset me, but at the time, it felt like a knife to my heart. All I wanted to do was scream his name out loud!

The most amazing thing was suddenly hearing his name. To listen to someone recount a memory they had of him. It brought him back to life for me. I was grateful that he wasn’t forgotten. He wasn’t completely erased from the world.

Say their names, they lived, albeit for a short time, but they still exist in our thoughts and hearts till the day we join them. Say their names!

Namaste