Postcard To Heaven was created in memory of my youngest son Craig.
We lost him in December of 2017 - he was 28 years old and one of the many loves of my life.
Let me tell you a little about him.... He was very handsome with a great smile and an infectious laugh. He was a free spirit and he loved adventure, he loved to travel and he loved living on the edge. He loved to challenge himself in almost everything and he was very competitive. He was a hard worker, was very strong willed and worked hard at everything he did in life. Whether he was working out at the gym, rebuilding a vehicle or working on a farm in the middle of nowhere Australia ( which he did). He always pushed himself. He did things with his life others only wished they could do. He scratched off a lot on his bucket list, at a very young age.
Helping people get recovered from alcoholism meant a lot to him too. He drove 100’s of miles every week picking people up who needed rides. He went to several AA meetings a week. He talked about how he wanted to ride a bike cross country helping people into recovery. There are many people who told me how much he helped them. I am very grateful for those stories. Even when he was thinking about going back to college, his entrance exam was going to be on how much AA had helped him. Due to some very hurtful situations in his life, he turned to alcohol and drugs again. And, this time along with depression and some other situations, his addiction was stronger than he was. He took his own life 3 days after Christmas.
My Postcard story began July 29th 2018. I had gone to the beach with my family and it so happened, that it was mine and my husband’s wedding anniversary that day, so it was a nice day. A beautiful summer day. I love the ocean, and how I feel when I am there.
Craig loved the ocean, he loved fishing and just hanging out, I felt closer to him when I was there, more so on this particular day.
I went for a walk to one of the many gift shops. As I entered the store there was a rack of postcards right inside the door. I stopped to look at the beautiful ocean scenes. The thought came to me; I wish I could send a postcard to Craig. I told myself - that’s crazy you can’t do that. I walked away. I browsed the rest of the shop and left without purchasing anything. Looking one more time at the postcards as I walked past them, feeling a longing to buy one. But, I left anyway. I only got a few feet outside the door when I believe; God told me to go back and buy a postcard. “What will I do with it?”..... I half asked out loud. Not getting any answer, I turned around and headed back into the store anyway and picked out the nicest one I could find. I brought it to the register, and my heart swelled with love, at the thought of Craig getting a postcard from me. The neat thing is, he had done a lot of traveling and a postcard would have been the most natural thing to send him. I walked outside and as the tears began to stream down my face, I thought it doesn’t matter if I don’t have an address to mail it to. I will just put a stamp on it and mail it to Heaven C/O God. I felt soooo happy to think about writing “I love you” on the postcard and sending it to him. I felt like, if I could send him a postcard, he wasn’t too far away. I want to send him postcards all the time I thought. Who’s gonna stop me - people might think I’m off the wall, but what do I care. After getting home and discussing it with my family, I decided to get a post office box incase anyone else would want to send a postcard to someone they loved and didn’t know where to send it. And that’s just what I did. Postcard to Heaven P.O. Box 9599 Warwick, RI 02889 C/O God where I can send him a postcard anytime I want.
And, please feel free to send a postcard or letter whenever you want as well and if you don’t want to do that, you can share on the Postcard To Heaven page.
You can say what’s in your heart, even tell a funny story about your loved one. Send them pictures like I do everyday ( I love taking pictures for Craig). My hope is that whatever you do, it will help with your grief, help with the healing process. I know it has helped me. I’ve even taken up photography, so I can make my own postcards.
The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do was to say good-bye to Craig. There will be a piece of my life and my heart that will be forever “ .........” I can fill in the line with a different word almost everyday it seems, (lost, saddened, changed etc.). But my love for him will remain ever strong. I consider myself blessed to be his mother. He is gone, but he will never be forgotten. He’s safe in heaven with God now and one day we will be together again.
But, until then, I will be sending him a Postcard to Heaven everyday.
Craig’s Mom 4ever Loved
