TIME TO REMEMBER
By BEV JORDAN
Lynne Molan lost her son Craig when he was 15 in a road accident. The teenager was cycling home from the shops when a truck, accelerating through a junction, hit him on Shepherd’s Drive, Cherrybrook just a km from his home. “When Craig was killed I just wanted with people who knew and loved him but as time moved on I needed to talk to people who understood what I was going through.”
Mrs Molan founded and organised the first annual Service of Remembrance for Children who have died or are missing in 1995. Over the years hundreds of grieving families across Sydney have attended the services which are held each year just before Christmas.
This year’s service of Remembrance at St Matthew’s Anglican Church West Pennant Hills (Cnr New Line Road and Castle Hill Road) will be on Tuesday, December 1 starting at 7.30pm.
Mrs Molan said the non-denominational service for families and friends of children who had died or were missing provided a place to gather at a difficult time, remember their loved one and meet others facing the same challenges.
She said it is always difficult living in a world without one of your children but on special occasions it is particularly difficult.
“Christmas is a very special occasion, it is a time of celebration – a time when families come together. This can cause a family whose child has died or is missing to feel quite isolated, quite alone, even in the presence of friends.”
This year’s service will be a hybrid format offering the service on site and online at www.stmatts.org.au/events/remember. Instead of placing flowers at the front of the church during the service, the names and ages of the children who have died or are missing will be read out and will also appear on the screen.
To have your family included email the full name/s and aged to [email protected] or call 9479 3700. Following the service a COVIDSafe supper will be served.
