Christmas can be a really difficult time of year for parents and other relatives bereaved by the loss of a child, according to Bill Patterson, whose 17-year-old son died in a car accident December 22, 1999.
Patterson, who is cemetery manager at Memorial Park South in Flowery Branch, recalled his son's funeral was held the day after Christmas.
Patterson is starting a local chapter of Bereaved Parents of the U.S.A. and this was the first of what he hopes will become an annual event.
"It's designed to meet the needs of Barrow County, Hall County and pretty much the whole area for people who have lost children," Patterson said. "It gives people an outlet and everyone who has lost child, a grand child or a sibling wants that person to be remembered."
People who gathered at the funeral home lit candles in memory of their children, brothers and sisters.
"The candle light memorial is a way of helping people get to know your child and remember that child," Patterson said. "They're looking for someone to understand where they are because as the days, weeks and months go by, the loss doesn't go away."
http://accesswdun.com/article/2007/12/204943