A Must Read For All Parents – ”The 10 Most Important Things I Learned After I Lost My Son”
I’m sure everyone would agree that being a parent is difficult at times. There are so many balls to keep in the air at any given time that it can get overwhelming, to say the lease. We have to deal with stress at work, at home and even in-between the two. There are also times when life may throw us an ultimate curveball and we don’t know what is happening until it is too late to do anything about it.
Even though parents deal with a lot of stress, one of the most stressful things that could happen is if they lost a child in death. It can knock you down so far that you might wonder if you are able to get back up again. Richard Pringle is a father that experienced such a tragedy. It happened when Hughie, his 3-year-old son had a brain hemorrhage and did not recover.
Richard struggled to deal with the grief he was experiencing. In an effort to make sense of it all, he wrote down 10 lessons that were learned from that tragedy. I think every parent should read that list.
Things seemed to be going well, even though they were aware of the brain condition. “There was only a 5% chance of a bleed, but unfortunately that 5% chance happened last year and he didn’t survive,” Richard said.
The father, who is from Hastings UK, wrote down the most important things in his life a year after losing his son. Reading it reminds us that we should never take what we have for granted.
1. ”You can never ever kiss and love too much. ”
2. ”You always have time. Stop what you’re doing and play, even if it’s just for a minute. Nothing’s that important that it can’t wait. ”
3. ”Take as many photos and record as many videos as humanly possible. One day that might be all you have.”
4. ”Don’t spend money, spend time. You think what you spend matters? It doesn’t. What you do matters. Jump in puddles, go for walks. Swim in the sea, build a camp and have fun. That’s all they want. I can’t remember what we bought Hughie I can only remember what we did.”
5. ”Sing. Sing songs together. My happiest memories are of Hughie sitting on my shoulders or sitting next to me in the car singing our favorite songs. Memories are created in music.”
6. ”Cherish the simplest of things. Night times, bedtimes, reading stories. Dinners together. Lazy Sundays. Cherish the simplest of times. They are what I miss the most. Don’t let those special times pass you by unnoticed”.
7. ”Always kiss those you love goodbye and if you forget. Go back and kiss them. You never know if it’s the last time you’ll get the chance.”
8. ”Make boring things fun. Shopping trips, car journeys, walking to the shops. Be silly, tell jokes, laugh, smile and enjoy yourselves. They’re only chores if you treat them like that. Life is too short not to have fun.”
9. ”Keep a journal. Write down everything your little ones do that lights up your world. The funny things they say, the cute things they do. We only started doing this after we lost Hughie. We wanted to remember everything. Now we do it for Hettie and we will for Hennie too. You’ll have these memories written down forever and when your older you can look back and cherish every moment.”
10. ”If you have your children with you. To kiss goodnight. To have breakfast with. To walk to school. To take to university. To watch get married. You are blessed. Never ever forget that”
By now, you are probably reaching for the tissues. The death of a child is something that no parent should have to endure. Take time to be with your loved ones and have no regrets.
