The Christmas after my son died, I decided to give his Christmas money to his recently married friends who were raising two small children, in gratitude for their friendship to my son. It's been 14 years, and each year I have found someone -- mostly young people who knew my son -- to give the money to. Several times through the years, I learned only upon delivering the check that there was a great need that I had not been aware of. It seemed almost as if I was being led to the person who needed the money the most. Most often, it has been young people raising a family, but once it was an immigrant in need of training to get a job and another time a friend who runs a homeless shelter. I know the money was helpful, but I mostly wanted them to know that someone cared about them and that they always had someone to turn to for help. It is my way of giving back to so many people who cared deeply about my son during his life. My thought sometimes is that if I can no longer "do" for my son who is gone, I can certainly do something for those men and women who were his "brothers and sisters" in life.
ORIGINAL COMMENT