Today marks the eve of the 10th anniversary of the passing of our beautiful butterfly.
25th November 2013 is when our crumbling lives finally fell apart. We had fought and cried and shouted 1000 times over; yet to no avail. We prayed and hoped and wished every hour of every day; yet to no avail.
We begged and pleaded and implored; yet to no avail.
I guess we knew we had lost the fight but it never stopped us battling on. We searched for something, a miracle, but God wanted our little butterfly by his side…..& so it was to be.
It is an impossible task to describe the feelings that we carry with us. The sadness, heartache, and of course the guilt, embrace us wholly. When Sophie left she took the very best of each of us. We carry on. What other choice is there?
Life continues at a whirlwind pace but we don’t feel quite in time with it; almost as if the weight of our shattered heart drags us back. Gemma, Jack, and myself all changed irrecoverably that night but, subconsciously perhaps, we refused to let it beat us. Sophie’s courage and strength throughout all she endured left a lasting impact on us.
Her wish of raising pennies to help others are words that echo in us daily. It’s why we do what we do. It’s why her amazing family and loyal friends do what they do.
It’s why we started Sophie’s Shop and, with the love and support of our amazing Island community, it has helped us transform hospice care both on the Island and the UK forever!! What a legacy to leave.
Tomorrow we will open our Christmas Shop and hope that we will raise more pennies than ever before to keep that legacy, and Sophies name, alive and thriving. Please please pop by, even if just to see the amazing work that has been done by Sophies loved ones.
10 years has passed in the blink of an eye and yet equally it could just as well be a day. We have grown older & greyer (one of us anyway) but the love we have for you Sophs is as strong as the first day we cradled you in our arms…