National Children’s Memorial Candlelight Service

The holidays can be a hard time if you have lost a loved one, but sharing your grief with others can be a way to remember. Tonight was the ninth annual National Children’s Memorial Candle Lighting Service at Faith United Methodist Church in Zanesville, but the candle lighting is a worldwide vigil.

Melody Hill, who lost her son Adam right before his twenty-third birthday explained, "Light a candle at 7 o’clock till 8 and it starts in New Zealand and it goes all the way around the world for 24 hours there is a candle burning somewhere for the children who have died too soon."

Bereaved parents, families and friends all share a common bond with one another and events like this can be a way to grieve but also a way to celebrate their lost one’s life.

"Its mixed emotions, I mean a lot of tears but there is joy in your heart that you are spending the day in remembering the child, because one of the greatest fears, when you lose a child is that that child will be forgotten and this is a night that we get to remember them", said Beth Dickerson, who lost her son Jimmy at the age of 17 in 2004.

The moving service included music, poetry, and a slideshow of all the children lost too soon. Grieving parents also took this time to bring a present for Toys For Tots for children in need.