Beloved family, not a day passes without us thinking of you; not a day passes without us missing you.
And no – time does not heal all wounds, but you learn how to manage your wound; you learn how to ensure that it doesn’t spread. And you learn how to live with it, and how to gently tend to it.
We cannot and we do not want to understand what happened that day. We cannot go back there, because if we do, then our grief will still cause us physical pain. But if we avoid just that small detail, then we have learned to live with our grief; we have learned how to be happy while also experiencing our grief.
But that’s not why we sat down to write this. We did so because over the past several weeks we have come to realize that so many positive things are happening in your memory; so many are helped to a better life, and so many wonderful people have had the opportunity to get to know one another because of you.
We think of Neng, who is finishing his last semester at the university and who just returned to Thailand after having completed his internship at Phosworks in Sweden.
We think of Non, who at the end of May will travel north to Bangkok, where he will study to become an architect.
We think of Team and Maeo, among others, who did not know how to read or write when they arrived at Barnhem as 9-year-olds, and whose skills now include reading, writing, and more.
We think of those of our children who arrived as frightened baby birds due to having suffered various forms of abuse, but who now have been transformed into self-confident, secure eagles.
We think of all of these children who had been left to fend for themselves without any love or compassion, but who now feel grounded and loved.
We think of all of our children who have the chance to give themselves a better future if they are willing to fight for it.
All of this is made possible because of you, and in other words you will live on in each and every one of our children.
We think of all of the wonderful people whom we have gotten to know over these years, people who we probably wouldn’t have met if it weren’t for you. Many have become new and dear friends. We think of how these friends in turn have gotten to know a host of new friends, and how everything has led to new opportunities.
You live on in all of these encounters, in all of these new friendships.
We think of Calle, who we probably wouldn’t know today were it not for you, and who is busy with his third adventure – http://thehappyworldtour.com/ – for the benefit of our children.
You know that he does this just as much to honor you.
You never had the chance to meet him and he never had the chance to meet you, but we know that you would have loved one another.
We think of all of the volunteers who had the privilege to come to Barnhem to work with our wonderful children. For many of them, that journey was a life-changing event:
And we know that you are with them as well.
You were robbed of your future, but you live on in all of these people and in their respective future.