I couldn't let this day pass without posting a special blog for Sarah Protulipac (far left) who was killed tragically on April 25, 2009 along with her sister, Gretchen (far right). To read about these two beautiful girls, you can go to their memorial site and you can also read the first and second blog I wrote about them not long after their passing.
Their parents, John and Alison, have always been loving and doting parents who raised their three girls to be respectful, giving and compassionate. The girls were very involved with school and Church, and had dreams and goals, just like any other teenage girl.
This week, John and Alison, along with their remaining daughter, Rebekah, have taken some time to get away and have gone to Florida to be with friends as Sarah's birthday arrives with the painful reminder that they will not be celebrating with Sarah and Gretchen.
People often say that the first year without their loved one is the hardest. The first birthday celebration. The first day of school. The first big holiday. Quite honestly, I don't know how any of it gets any easier even after the 2d, 3rd, 15th, 20th or more years after such a tragedy. I simply do not know how they are surviving and wonder how anyone could. And to lose not one, but two, well, it seems more than a normal human being could take without a person becoming something of a distant memory of who they once were.
Because mankind truly is a brotherhood and sisterhood full of compassion and consideration for their fellow man/woman, I am asking you a favor, one which I know you will oblige. And that is, if you are so inclined, please keep this family in your prayers today. Or simply in your thoughts if you aren't one who prays. Send good thoughts to John, Alison and Rebekah. There is true power in prayer, true healing in faith and true love in remembering.
Go to the website and, if you are able, click on the link to Sarah and Gretchen's Memorial Scholarship Fund, which was created in their names to help send deserving kids to college. If you are able to donate something, I know that this family will be eternally grateful. In this way, the memory of the girls will continue - their smiles will survive the tragedy and will bring hope and futures to others who they will be able to assist, even though they are no longer physically here with us. If you are not able to donate, leave them a message in the guest book. I know they will appreciate it.
And, if you are further inclined, before the day is over, light a candle to remember Sarah's birthday and to honor and remember these two sisters who will be on the minds and hearts of many today, especially the minds and hearts of John, Alison and Rebekah.
Copyright 2009 liamsgrandma
