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Written by Corinne O'Flynn
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Are you crafty? Are you looking for a way to use your crafty gifts in a way that gives to others?
We need your help making cards for our Remembering with Lovenotes program!
Remembering with Lovenotes is a new program of Rowan Tree Foundation, started in January 2011. We've already sent hundreds of cards to families around the globe during their child's anniversary month. These cards are a small but precious keepsake and come with the message that parents are not alone remembering their child.
The response we have had from parents who have received cards this year has been so warm and wonderful, we are looking forward to continuing the program in the years to come.
The details to volunteer have been listed below, but if you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to contact us.
We look forward to sharing your creations with bereaved parents in this important and meaningful way.
Thank you!
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Written by Corinne O'Flynn
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 Every year as December arrives, I find myself facing the anniversary of my daughter's short time here with us. December also marks the end of the year, the calendar changing over - a fresh start. What used to be a milestone, this exciting experience in the new year, has changed a bit. There is still a feeling of the thrill in a new beginning, but there is also the ache in my heart that yet another year has put distance between me and the time that Rowan spent with us.
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Written by Corinne O'Flynn
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Each year at our memorial events, a short reading is shared with those who have gathered. So often the message is one of connection and wishes for peace. This year, I spoke about gifts that come after a loss. The following was read during the RTF Butterfly Release on June 25, 2011.
There is so much symbolism surrounding loss. There are books that talk about waterbugs turning into dragonflies as a way to explain the mystery of life after death. There are powerful allegories of grief as a mountain range, or an undulating ocean or a big round room . There’s the dragonfly as transformation, and the butterfly taking flight on silent wings, and the angel, the ladybug, the flower, and the stars.
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Written by Corinne O'Flynn
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 Big news friends! We have received our letter of approval from the DMV! This document clears the way for us to secure a House of Representatives Sponsor as well as a Senate Sponsor for the upcoming General Assembly in January. We are also putting the finishing touches on the design for our plate. As you know if you've been reading along in the past, the design used here is not indiciative of the final design that will be printed on the plates. Stay tuned as we continue to post updates on our project!
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Written by RTF Staff
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 We are so excited to announce that the Town of Parker Public Works Department has approved a landscaping plan for our RTF Angel Memorial Plaza Healing Garden.
It all started when an Eagle Scout candidate asked if we might be in need of some help sprucing up the memorial plaza with some plantings and landscaping as a potential community service project to earn his Eagle with the Boy Scouts of America.
The town of Parker Public Works Department was more than happy to assist us with the development of a plan to landscape the Memorial Plaza in two segments.
A portion of this project (the lower segment of the design pictured, near the paved bike path) will be funded and completed as part of the Eagle Scout project. The rest is up to us and we need your help.
The Public Works Department has generously agreed to donate all the labor and design work for the project, so we are responsible only for the materials and the cost of an outside cement contractor.
Donate to this project today!
(Click READ MORE for a larger image)
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Written by RTF Admin
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We are so pleased to announce our newest program, Remembering with Lovenotes; handmade personalized keepsakes made in memory of a child. These cards are all made by loving volunteers who wish to honor your child and their memory with a beautiful keepsake. They are then sent to the child's family during their anniversary month.
It is our deepest wish that bereaved families everywhere know that they are not alone and that their child is being remembered. This is one more way to help make that happen.
You can order a card for yourself or for a friend at any time - they will be sent during the child's anniversary month.
Volunteer to make cards!
Order your Remembering with Lovenotes card today!
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Written by Sandra Courtney-Wherry
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Experiencing the difficulty of parenting a living child while grieving for the one who has died.
 It is 9:30 at night and I am sitting on my couch folding my two year old daughter's laundry and sorting out clothes that she has outgrown. I am also sorting out clothes that show the wear and tear of an active two year old's play. This makes me just like thousands of moms with toddlers that grow faster than we ever imagined. But most other moms are not in tears, sobbing while they hold little pairs of jeans with grass stains.
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Written by Corinne O'Flynn
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 Trying to remain objective in the face of emotion
I asked my husband the other day if he thought about our deceased
daughter daily. His response was that he did not. I respect the fact
that he answered the question honestly, considering he must have known
it might upset me. He had an apologetic tone as he did so because I am
sure he knew it was not what I was hoping to hear. I suppressed the
knee-jerk flare up of righteous-indignant defense of our daughter's
memory, and tried instead to make sense of why this is the case. But
since then I had been troubled by the knowledge that she doesn't occupy
his mind in the same way that she does mine.
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Written by Corinne O'Flynn
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 Reflecting on life after loss.
Although I have experienced the loss of several people who were close to me, it is the loss of my daughter that marks the most dramatic pivot-point of change in my life. This is not to say that my days are consumed by my grief and the loss of Rowan. They certainly used to be, but they are not anymore.
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Written by Corinne O'Flynn
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 I just received an email newsletter from my friend Lisa in which she wrote about a conversation she had with a friend of hers who is a therapist. Lisa told her friend she was, "So angry and hurt and don't know what I am supposed to do with all of it." Her friend looked at her and said, "You do nothing with it, you just allow yourself to feel it." To which Lisa replies, "WOW."
It seems so plain and simple.
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Written by Corinne O'Flynn
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 Welcome to the RTF Angel Memorial Plaza, in Parker Colorado, USA.
When
you arrive at the park, you'll walk along the tree-lined path that
follows Cherry Creek. You'll pass the picnic tables and visitor
shelter. Continue north and you'll see the town's arboretum and all
the young trees that are growing there in a natural setting. If you
wander through there you'll learn the names of just about every tree
that is native to the area. Cross the old steel bridge and you'll find
an open field with horseshoe prints from rides on the equestrian
trail. Look to your left and you'll see an angel.
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Written by Kristi Sagrillo
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 Dealing with the reality of changing relationships after your child dies.
A wise gardener once told me that if you want a beautiful garden to
grow you must weed it from time to time. Weeding for any gardener,
whether it’s a small flower pot on the front porch or a gorgeous flower
garden in the backyard is an assumed task and occasionally just has to
be done. However, if you neglect to prune the weeds they will
eventually begin to overcrowd or, worse yet, become invasive and try
and take over your entire garden.
After the death of my son, I began to apply this same logic to my own life.
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