Dear Abby: In response to the letter from a postal worker in Cottage Grove, Minn., regarding the tragic loss of children in the Oklahoma City explosion:
Five years ago, on the same date that letter was written, I lost my 9-month-old son to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).I am enclosing a poem that gave me much comfort. Although I will continue to grieve the loss of my son, it would be selfish of me to wish him away from the perfect home in which he now dwells, just to fill my empty arms.
I have to consider myself blessed and wait until the Lord determines that it is time for us to reunite.
- A Parent in Pleasant Gap, Pa.
TO ALL PARENTS
by Edgar Guest
"I'll lend you for a little time a child of mine," He said,
"For you to love the while she lives and mourn for when she's dead.
"It may be six or seven years, or twenty-two or three,
"But will you, till I call her back, take care of her for me?
"She'll bring her charms to gladden you, and shall her stay be brief,
"You'll have her lovely memories as solace for your grief.
"I cannot promise she will stay, since all from earth return,
"But there are lessons taught down there I want this child to learn.
"I've looked the wide world over in my search for teachers true
"And from the throngs that crowd life's lanes I have selected you.
"Now will you give her all your love, nor think the labor vain,
"Nor hate me when I come to call to take her back again?"
I fancied that I heard them say: "Dear Lord, Thy will be done!
"For all the joy Thy child shall bring, the risk of grief we'll run.
"We'll shelter her with tenderness, we'll love her while we may,
"And for the happiness we've known forever grateful stay;
"But shall the angels call for her much sooner than we've planned,
"We'll brave the bitter grief that comes and try to understand."
Dear Abby: When I was a child, my mother taught me something that profoundly influenced my life.
I was 7 years old when she came home with a surprise and asked me to peek inside a cardboard box. Inside were two baby guinea pigs she had bought for my brother and me.
She showed me how to pick one up, and as I held the fragile little thing in my hand, she asked me to be careful and said, "Remember, that's a little life."
Through the years, we've had some wonderful pets in our family who were always treated with love and kindness, and I never forgot that no matter how tiny the creature is, there is a little heart beating inside.
- Lori Sirianni, Charleston, S.C.
Dear Lori: What a beautiful, humanitarian quality your mother instilled in you. Now if all humans would respect every living creature as you were taught to do, the world would be better for it.
Dear Abby: My father told me that many years ago he read where you got a letter from a soldier who asked if the picture you had with your column was really you and were you married. Your response was, "Dear Soldier: It is, and I am."
Are you the "Abby" who was writing an advice column during the Vietnam conflict years?
- K. Keel, Metairie, La.
Dear K.: Affirmative.