A Message from a Child

Today I received a special message, the best one ever, it came over FB.  You see, I have a little niece, Shaelyn, who is so very close with Wyatt.  She never had a chance to meet him, but she has been told all about him.  She prays for him every night and she makes sure that she has "her own" pictures of him.  Since losing Wyatt, Shaelyn has been my precious guide to him.  They say that children know more than what we think and that they sometimes "see" more than we adults do.  After losing Wyatt, Shaelyn quickly proved this.  She came to the beach to visit me and she told me then that she could see Wyatt while crossing over the bridge to get to the beach.  (Like she made the connection to the sky and Heaven)

There have been many other stories since but none that touched my heart like today's did.  This was the FB message I received today from my sister in law:

"Ahhh my Megan... I always want to tell u sooo much .. I just never want to upset you ever....but then I thought and realized that not telling you is worse especially after I saw your last blog.   I promised myself that I would try to tell you everything. :)  First, I want to let you know that not a day, barely an hour, goes by that I don't pass by a picture of Wyatt or think of him.  And Shaelyn talks about him a lot!!  When people ask her how many cousins she has or say "wow you have so many cousins, do you even know all their names..." she starts to list them "Justin, Aaliyah........" and somewhere in between she always says "and I have a special baby cousin Wyatt who lives in heaven and I miss him....."  Or she was playing football one day with my sister and her friend and she caught the ball and said "Aunt Cara do you think baby Wyatt is proud of me for being good at football?"  A few days before Christmas, when I told her we were going to donate the money to Wyatt's Wishes as his Christmas present, she was happy but then asked if Santa could get presents to him in heaven.  I tried to answer honestly forgetting it's Shaelyn that I'm talking to and she's so sensitive about Wyatt.  I said, "well I don't know Shaelyn, I don't think so.."  It broke my heart to see her bottom lip poke out and she cried.  "We" cried for awhile.  She was so mad and upset because she was sure Wyatt was being a good boy.  So finally, I told her that Santa could go up there.  She is always thinking of him.  Christmas Eve, we came home and I handed her the picture frame you gave her so she could put it in her room on her dresser.  She flipped out!! (You know with her Shaelyn attitude)  "Mom, I am putting Wyatt's pictue right in between the fireplace and Christmas tree so Santa sees him and does not forget to go give Wyatt his presents. 
And that is where his picture stayed until morning when she picked it up and said "welp, I know Santa had to see it" and she put it in her room.  She always says she can build a rocket ship and visit Wyatt in heaven but I have to really sit down and tell her that she can absolutely not go there and that once you go there you can never come back.  That's when she gets upset again and realizes that her pictures are what she has.  And not to mention the fact that she loves going over bridges because she knows she is close to baby Wyatt.  I really hope you wanted me to share our Wyatt times with you. ;)   I just wanted you to know more than anything, that he is with us everyday and there will never be a day he is not with us, for that I am sure."

 

So, that was my wonderful message I received today.  Something so touching, so very precious, and so meaningful.  The words which came from a four year old, a very special four year old.  A four year old who loves her cousin, the one she never got to meet, and who thinks of him often and ensures he lives on. 

 

So I leave you with a quote that always reminds me of little Shaelyn and baby Wyatt.

 

"Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them."  ~Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince, 1943