December is a tough month for Susanna Andrew. The month marks Christmas, her daughter’s birthday and also the day her daughter died.
“It is really hard,” says Andrew. “You just miss them so much.”
Andrew’s daughter Jennifer Horne would have turned 29-years-old today. She was murdered in December of 2007.
Susanne has found comfort in an annual holiday vigil for bereaved families. It’s a worldwide candle lighting event that Kelly Currie brought to Cole Harbour after her daughter Jocelyn died.
The first Christmas without their baby girl, Kelly and her husband lit a candle at home.
“It didn’t feel… I needed more… so I decided if I am feeling this way, then others are too and someone has to start it,” says Currie.
The candle lighting event will be held at a memorial garden at St. Vincent De Paul in Cole Harbour on Sunday, at 7pm. The names of all the children will be read out loud and each parent will light a candle in their honour.
“The whole vigil is simple… and everything about it is simple and when you’re a bereaved parent you feel all alone,” says Currie. “When you are all together you know you are not alone.”
Parents around the world take part at the same time; the idea is to have a candle burning for 24 consecutive hours.
“I am never going to forget her, so I don’t want other people to forget her. That’s part of the vigil I like; we remember our children when most people don’t even want to talk about them,” says Andrew.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kelland Sundahl.
