Friday, October 12, 2012

from the mouths of babes

Since Vienne passed away, friends have been sharing stories with me regarding their kid's reactions to Vienne's passing.  Sweet friends of Vienne's.  You never realize the astounding depth of children until something big like this happens.  These stories from little hearts touch mine so deeply.

>From Lilly, 6 yrs. old ~  Lilly drew a picture of two children.  One girl is Vienne, with a sad face.  The other child has an arm extended, about to hit Vienne.  Lilly explained that "When someone hits her, she doesn't hit back.  She is just sad.  I want to be like that!"


     ~Lilly also prays every night for our family.  One night, out of the blue, she asked God for a heart like Vienne's.  *tears*

(Lilly at Vienne's 4th Birthday Tea Party)

     ~ The week after Vienne's passing, Lilly's mommy, Lauren, hosted a play group in honor of Vienne.  The kids drew pictures and wrote letters to Vienne and released balloons up to Heaven for her.

   ~ I thought I would also include this photo of Vienne, taken by Lilly at her house while V was over playing.  (I should mention that Vienne was also best friends with Lilly's little sister, Jane.  Two sweet and special friends).

(photo by Lilly...she captured my sweet Girl's stunning smile)

(Lilly, Lauren (their Mommy), and Jane making necklaces at Vienne's Birthday Party)

>From Caleb, 6 yrs. old ~ Caleb's response when first told the news, 'Well.  The only good thing about this is that she's with Jesus.  But that's the only good thing.'
(Caleb and Vienne, May 2011)

>Malachi (Caleb's brother), 3 yrs. old ~ Malachi cried and cried and cried when his mom, Lacey, first told him.  His response was, 'But she was the rainbow princess!  She was just the princess at Caleb's party!'
     ~ The boys continue to respond by saying, 'She's with Jesus and we'll see her when Jesus makes the world new and we can play dragons with her again.  I bet she plays dragons with Jesus. 
(Malachi) And yeah!  She's the Rainbow Princess with Jesus now!'

(Malachi & Caleb - boys after Vienne's heart.  Oh, be still my heart)

> From Natalie, 3 yrs. old ~ Natalie is full of imagination and creative questions.  Every night she and her mommy pray for us, which sparks a plethora of fabulous questions about Heaven.    Her mommy, Brooke, has shared these questions with me:
     ~Natalie asked if the dinosaurs in heaven could give Vienne a kiss and a hug. Brooke answered with a hearty and enthusiastic "yes!"
     ~Another night, Natalie wanted to know if Jesus could go to Papa Murphy's and get a pizza for Vienne in Heaven.
     ~Natalie wanted to know if Jesus could go to Petco and pick out a kitty for Vienne and take it back to Heaven.
     ~And, another night she asked if Vienne and Jesus could play hide and seek as well as Chutes and Ladders together.
     ~She asked if Vienne's baby dolls would be sad that she was in Heaven and in the next breath asked if Vienne could have M&Ms in Heaven too.
     ~Natalie asked if, when we get to heaven, Jesus and God would answer the doorbell or if Vienne would.  Then, in the same conversation, she also asked if boy angels bite or had sharp teeth because she didn't want Vienne to play with those guys.
     ~Finally, Natalie asked how Vienne got to Heaven...did she drive or walk?  Brooke told her that Vienne flew.
(Vienne and Natalie, summer of 2011)


>From Ella, 3 yrs. old ~ When looking at this blog full of pictures of Vienne, Ella got so excited to see her.  She looked up at the ceiling (towards heaven) and said "You are so sweet and beautiful, Vienne.  I miss you."
~ One night at bedtime prayers, Ella wanted to pray for Vienne and send a big hug and kiss to her.  She even blew it up to the sky.  She said that she misses Vienne so much.  *tears*
(Vienne and Ella, and Ella's mommy, Eileen - summer 2012)

>From Maya, 7 yrs. old ~ Maya's family just moved to Beaverton, from the beach.  On her first day at the new school she was very quiet and sad...for it was just a few days following Vienne's passing.  A little boy was sitting next to her and noticed her sadness.  The little boy mentioned Vienne's name and Maya's head popped up:  "How do you know my friend, Vienne?!"  The little boy turned out to be our friend's son, Eli.  Eli told Maya that his daddy wrote Vienne a song and he would bring the CD to school the next day, for her.  And, he did.  (this was the song that was played at her service).


**If anyone else has anything else to contribute, from their children, please email or message me.  I want to document every memory of Vienne so that I may cherish them always.

6 comments:

  1. That is so sweet Jenny. What beautiful children. I'm glad moms are sharing their stories with you.

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  2. These are all such sweet and special thoughts. Praying these cute questions and words bring you some smiles (amongst tears) during this time. Love you friend.

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  3. She impacted her friends at such a young age! Such sweet stories. :)

    Kristi B.

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  4. I loved her so much. She was my best friend. Whenever I get angry at school I think, "What would Vienne do?".

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