Families Gathered Together for the Remember Our Children Walk

Today at the Alpena County Fairgrounds families and friends gathered together celebrating the life and memory of their children who have passed on and became angles. The walk began at 10 a.m. at the Alpena County Fairgrounds and the remembrance walk lasted for about an hour. They walked from the fairgrounds all the way to their Tree of Remembrance and then back to the fairgrounds. The facilitator of Remember Our Children, Karen McCormick provided us with more insight to the special event

Karen said, “Well we’ve been doing it now for about 15 years. It’s just an annual walk where we honor the children who have passed away in our community and in our families. We have a list of names and it grows every year unfortunately. It’s just a beautiful way to remember them and we have a special spot with the tree and a bench and memorial bricks. It’s a nice place to go and rest and reflect and remember your loved child that’s passed away.”

Karen also explains why they walk from the fairgrounds to the Remembrance Tree, “It just gives people a quiet time to reflect on their child and also to draw attention to our group from the community because we know these a lot of families out there who have lost a child and we want them to know there’s support for them.”

She also details the feeling of losing a child or a loved one, “The emotions are running the gambit form anger and sadness. Sometimes you can laugh, those are the times you look forward to because you remember your child with joy and love and just saying their name is important.”

While at the Remembrance Tree, an R.O.C member read out the names of the loved one followed by a melancholic bell ring, it was a very touching moment.