no matter what they told you, you're not alone

The Worldwide Candle Lighting is one day out of the year when you can remember a child who has died and know that the world remembers with you. It is a day when you can light a remembrance candle and know that yours is joining with hundreds of thousands around the world.

This Sunday, December 9, bereaved parents, siblings, grandparents, relatives, and friends from across the globe will join together for the Eleventh Annual Worldwide Candle Lighting sponsored by The Compassionate Friends, and you are invited to participate, whether at a formal service, at home with family and friends, or wherever you may be. While the event is officially observed for one hour at 7 p.m. local time around the world, services, both formal and informal, will be held throughout the day.

I will light my candle tomorrow for Jillian, a little girl from my hometown who died at the age of 13 from an inoperable brain tumor, and for my big sister K, and for the babies of a girl I went to high school with, who were born too early and didn't survive, as well as countless others who I didn't personally know. Please, don't let their light be extinguished. Take this one hour to remember the kids who died too young.