This is a poem Lydia wrote in Grade 3, age 8, about her brother Harry.
They were studying the Group of 7 artists, in particular Lawren Harris. They were supposed to meditate on one of his images and write a poem to represent how the painting made them feel. Lydia was meditating on a painting of an old house. She said it made her feel sad, so she thought of the saddest thing she could and wrote about that.
Whoever might wonder if and how a small child experiences grief, here is one answer. Lydia was 4 and a half when Harry died. The students' poems were hanging in the hallway outside of the their classroom for parent-teacher interviews last March. Needless to say, I was a crying mess when Lydia showed me her poem. Poor thing, she thought maybe I didn't like it. I think it is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read (but of course, I'm biased!).
Here it is:
The Other Life Before
That other life before.
We played together.
I pushed you on your
trike.
I remember the other life
full of happiness galore!
But
then the following winter
we found out you had cancer.
For the next little whiel you spent
most of your time
in the sickly dredful hospital
. August 3
you died!
Shadows covered my heart.
I felt like I would die too.
My other life before
was with you.
Copyright Lydia Venema, Age 8
(I have included Lydia's mis-spellings to remain true to how she wrote it!)
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Climbing stairs is nuthin' (July 6)
About this blog
- Kathleen and Gareth
- We are Harry's aunt and uncle and we live just around the corner from Harry's Mom and Dad and his big sister Lydia in Wolseley, a neighbourhood in Winnipeg. At the end of February, when Harry was just ten months old, doctors at the Children's Hospital here in Winnipeg discovered that he had an exceptionally rare form of liver cancer, specifically a Rhabdoid tumour that had metastasized into his lungs and lymph nodes. This blog has tracked Harry's valiant and joy-filled journey from the time he was diagnosed until his gentle passing from this life on August 3rd. We continue to remember and celebrate Harry with occasional messages from his family and reports on the memorial fund set up in his name. We continue to invite you to engage with Harry's legacy by posting messages here.
2 comments:
What an amazing poem showing such depth and understanding of the bittersweet memories losing Harry had for you.
I am Stella's Mama (Mishi), and I am so grateful that you have been following our blog and leaving such heartfelt and honest comments for us. I wanted you to know that I read your entire blog about Harry (what a sweetheart he was!), and am speechless at the beautiful journey you and your family went on with him. He was so lucky to spend his life in your loving arms. You have given me hope that we, someday, will have the same generosity and passion for our heartbreak that you seem to. Thank-you for sharing Harry with me, I will always think of him, and thank-you for taking the time to get to know my precious Stella.
In sadness and hope,
Mishi
I stumbled upon this blog somehow today and wanted to thank you for publishing these thoughts. I see my thoughts in your notes as it appears we have shared experiences, but I have not had the strength to write anything down after our loss, even though I am thinking of my little blue eyed boy every moment of every day. The poem by your daughter is heart breaklingly beautiful. Thank you for sharing. :) -Casey's mom
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