Dear Friends,
Here we are again entering the season of lights, love, family and giving. But for those of us who have lost children, the holiday season seems almost cruel. It serves as a harsh reminder that our loved one is no longer with us to experience what is referred to as “the most wonderful time of the year.”
For those of us whose children are no longer here, it is the most difficult and saddest part of the year. For me, it begins in September with the start of school. The weather turns cooler, the leaves change, and fall and holiday decorations make their appearances a bit too early in local stores. As I experience this change in season, there is that constant ache in my heart that my Katie is not by my side to see the beauty of this transition. I can never watch as she excitedly begins a new school year. I will never know who her friends would be or what she would look like. Time moves forward, but as I sit with my family sharing our Christmas dinner, the chair where my precious daughter would be seated remains empty.
In 2005, my little girl was killed as she innocently played in her bedroom. Unbeknownst to us, lurking by her side in that special room was a killer – a killer which took the life of my then 3-year-old little girl. As she sat on the floor playing with her Buzz Lightyear doll, an accident occurred where the large, unsecured wardrobe cabinet that stood in that room tipped, fell and crushed my baby. All I heard was the deafening crash…all I saw was my daughter laying under broken pieces of glass and wood, her lifeless body still clutching her Buzz Lightyear toy.
No parent should ever have to experience the death of a child, especially one that could have been prevented. No one ever warned us that furniture could kill. No one told us that TVs and furniture should be properly secured to a wall. If someone did, perhaps my daughter would be with me experiencing the true excitement and happiness of the holiday season. Instead of wrapping her special gifts I will visit her grave and hang Christmas decorations on her stone. I will thank God for the three short years that he gave me with her and I will ask for the strength to not only get through another difficult holiday season but the rest of my life without my Katie. My heart aches that part of my soul is missing. I know that true joy and happiness can never be felt.
I truly wish you and your families a happy, healthy and safe holiday season. Take the time to hug your children, your loved ones and to be thankful that you can do so. My one true hope is that my daughter’s name will never be forgotten and other families will never have to suffer the intense pain that we do. Please help us to remember not only my Katie who lost her life to furniture tip-over, but all the other children whose lives were cut too short by this hidden hazard.
Thank you to everyone who has donated their time, products and money to our cause. Along with the 2nd Annual Katie Elise Lambert Foundation Butterfly Release held this past summer at Jeanes Hospital, your kindness has done so much to let parents, grandparents, teachers and other important adults in our children’s lives know about this horrible danger.
If it isn’t too much to ask, I hope you will please consider a donation to the Katie Elise Lambert Foundation’s child safety organization so that we may continue to educate others on the dangers of unsecured furniture. All donations are tax deductible and would go towards raising awareness of this deadly killer. Education is the key in helping to save lives.
Please remember those who are no longer able to see, hear or hug our children and consider telling someone about The Katie Elise Lambert Foundation. Doing so may help save an innocent life.
Wishing you peace,
Judy Lambert
www.katieeliselambert.org
info@furnituresafety.org
