Friday, August 27, 2010

Parents experiencing the loss of a child, a wife losing her husband, and a baby-sister dealing with her grief...

I'm in tears once again, realising that my parents that saw my brother being born into this world, also very unnaturally (as in parents are not supposed to bury their children, but his last moments were in his most beloved mountains) saw his exit out of this world into Heaven. I read this article by Robbie Davis-Floyd on how a parent experiences the death of their child... And it just made me cry all over again.

My heart is breaking into even tinier pieces than it did 2 weeks and 5 days ago when I received the news of my kid brother's death. My parents carry on, only through the grace of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Carlien, his wife? She holds onto God's love and peace and consolation, knowing that her Strength comes from HIM. She carries around his CAM device (rock climbing equipment) that has a bent cable due to a force >2.5 tons (the boulder) which contorted it's shape against my brother's hip, as a constant reminder that it's a miracle that she's alive, and to have a piece of him with her.

We all have constant reminders of Heinrich in our lives

I'm struggling with the emotions of numbness and total dispair, because at every corner that I turn, there's something that reminds me of him. His climbing photo is stuck to my wall in my office, our family photo is stuck to my fridge, a photo of him and me on his wedding day is my profile pic on my laptop's "startup/login" screen. He's on the laptop's desktop background, he's on my facebook profile.

HIS NUMBER IS ON MY PHONE BUT HE'LL NEVER AGAIN ANSWER IT!

His wedding shoes are next to my bed, I wore them yesterday - our feet were the same shape, his were just longer, so they feel like I've worn them in - yet the footprints left in these shoes are my brother's...

The necklace he made me from a flat pebble and copper plate and a blue marble lies in my Bible carry-bag, safe until he could fix it for me - he never got the chance to...

The shawl I made to wear to their wedding is often swaddled around me - a constant reminder that I witnessed one of the greatest and happiest moments in his life!

The newspaper with the front page photo of Heinrich and Carlien on their honeymoon at a beautiful waterfall, lying within sight in our lounge for all who enter.

The rolled up canvasses of paintings by all my siblings and their children, my parents and him and Carlien - meant to make a quilt with as a wedding present. He never got to see Oom Kaspaas which Otto so diligently painted and which stained Thinus' work clothes. But I WILL finish this quilt, as a rememberance of our family unit, and to cover my sister's pain...

My German Bibel next to my bed takes me back to the day that our Dad bought these for us so that we could learn his heart's language whilst learning God's Word. I still have to learn how to understand and converse in proper German. Heinrich read his with fervour - he SO loved German, went to Frau Heidi to have German 'conversations' with her every week to sharpen up his grammar and language. And so I read from my German Bibel to my dad today, from Luke 6:21 (a verse I saw last night again, after reading Luke 5, and it was underlined with a side note saying that God will restore my laugther after I went through my miscarriage). It read as follows:

"Freut euch, die ihr jetzt Hunger habt!
Gott wird euch satt machen.

Freut euch, die ihr jetzt weint!
Bald werdet ihr lachen."
(Lukas 6:21. Die bibel in Heutigem Deutsch)


"Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh again.'
(Luke 6:21. NIV translation)

BUT, even though I'm surrounded by all this memories and reminders, they can be good even though saddening at times. They remind me of how my brother and I cherished each other's company, how he loved JESUS CHRIST, how he truly loved his family, how he loved his wife with all his might, and how he loved life!

Thank you GOD, that I'm once again reminded of Heinrich's beauty, and Your comforting love, grace and peace...

3 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Such a beautiful post! I just can't get over the love that you and your family share together both for each other and for Heinrich. It's truly amazing to see. I loved all the different pictures you posted, it in some ways made me feel as if I had known Heinrich as well. I still think about you and him everyday that goes by and pray for you often.
I'm so glad I've gotten the chance to get to know you and your sweet spirit. you're such an amazing sister and friend!

XOXO

Ronél said...

Thanks so much my dear friend! I've also grown to know you as someone who pushes on, regardless!

Heinrich was indeed an amazing brother, and today I'm once again struggling with the idea that he's not with us anymore - just the other day I spoke to him on Skype, how can it be that he can't answer now??? I wish there was Skype2Heaven! If you can at least just get to know a little bit about my brother through my post, that's awesome! The only way I know how to physically deal with my pain is through photos and writing...

Thank you for continuously covering us in prayer,I cannot begin to describe to you how much that has helped us in the past few weeks! It's amazing that we can call each other 'sister' because of our bond with Christ Jesus! Thank you for your friendship, I appreciate it tremendously!

xoxoxox

Carlien Kahl said...

My liefste sus...ek loer weer na sooooo baie dinge. Herhinneringe. Gedagtes. Drome wat nou anders moet gevorm word...verdraai deur trane, maar steeds gevul met 'n hoop wat nie van hier af is nie.
Mis jou baie...mis Tiekie meer. As dit nie was vir ons Hemelse Vader wat my so gelooflik styf vashou nie, sou dinge darem baie anders gewees het! Dis sooooo wonderbaarlik om so God te aanbid, deurdrenk te wees met so 'n liefde en daardie liefde vir mekaar ook te kan reflekteer en eggo.
So baie lief vir jou!!!!!
CK
xxx