This heartbreaking parenting news will make you hug your kids a lot tighter today. Amber Shoemake, mother of 6-year old Leland posted a special Facebook status in Leland’s honor that has recently gone viral.
Amber Shoemake posts a status clarifying
“I just wanted to clarify that the letter from Leland doesn’t say goodbye. It says good day. It says “still with you thank you mom and dad love mom and dad it’s a good day.” The media always messes things up. We still can’t thank everyone enough for their support for us through this difficult time. Reality still hasn’t set in that he’s not here with us. We miss him terribly. Today we go to pick out his headstone. I’m not ready for this either. I’m not sure how I’m going to go on without him. How do you not only say goodbye to a child but your best friend.”
6 year old Leland spent two weeks at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in critical condition before he died from an infection from the Balamuthia mandrillaris amoeba in his brain on Friday. According to a post on the Prayers for Leland Facebook page, Shoemake believes her son contracted the deadly infection by doing the “one thing he loved most” — playing in the dirt. “I never imagined that would be the thing that would take him from me,” she wrote.
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When Leland’s parents, Tim and Amber, went home to pick up burial clothes for Leland, they found something unexpected waiting for them on the living room table. Leland had left his parents a handwritten note that read,
“Still with you. Thank you mom + dad. Love Mom and Dad it’s a good day”
Shoemake mentioned in her Facebook post, sharing the story of Leland’s passing was one of the most difficult things she’s ever had to do, but she did it anyway. A grieving mother was willing to share her son’s story on social media to give hope and encouragement to families who have been there before. It’s so difficult to know what to do say when a friend/relative loses a child, but sometimes just being there can be enough.
She further posts a status yesterday, on Sep 30
“I just wanted to clarify that the letter from Leland doesn’t say goodbye. It says good day. It says “still with you thank you mom and dad love mom and dad it’s a good day.” The media always messes things up. We still can’t thank everyone enough for their support for us through this difficult time. Reality still hasn’t set in that he’s not here with us. We miss him terribly. Today we go to pick out his headstone. I’m not ready for this either. I’m not sure how I’m going to go on without him. How do you not only say goodbye to a child but your best friend.”
Statistics:
From 1980 to 2013, the death rate for children ages 5 to 14 fell from 31 percent to 13 percent per 100,000. Yet 53,000 children still die each year in the U.S., which means 53,000 families are struggling with a devastating loss.
Source: Facebook, Image Source: Prayers for Leland
