Please Help

Yesterday Harri, Kobe and I had a busy day at soccer and then went to watch a Hawthorn game live.  When I got home I asked Jay what he had been up to and he said that his friend Jackson had come around for a while, and they then met up with some of their 'squad' to hang out. 

Jay and Jackson have been friends since Primary School and were also on the Student Leadership Board at school together last year.

This morning Jay woke up to the tragic news that Jackson's Dad Gary had passed away during the night from a heart attack. I was on the computer when he came and told me, and my heart just dropped as I couldn't believe what he was saying.  I quickly jumped onto Facebook and saw the awful post that his Mum Liz and Jackson had both written, and all the shock and sadness of that first morning without Aaron came flooding back.

All morning I have been thinking about him and his Mum.  After we heard the news Kobe, Harri and I went for a walk and during our walk we saw a double rainbow.  Whenever we see a double rainbow we like to think that it's Aaron and Noah sending us a sign that they're close by.  I wondered if they knew our hearts were a bit heavier today after hearing the news.

Things are never easy, but they're so much easier than they were four and a half years ago, but I hate to think of the long road ahead that Jackson and his Mum Liz have ahead of them.   This is a photo that I took of them just before Jay and Jackson's grade 10 leaver's dinner last year.

It can be easy to just sit back and say how awful something is, and be overwhelmed with wanting to help but not knowing what to do.  But one thing that I've really learned since Aaron and Noah passed away that you just have to do something.   Sitting back and feeling sorry for someone is not helping them.   I still love the story about seeing someone who is drowning and saying 'let me know if you need help'.  Instead it's better to just jump in and help them.

I'll never forget the way I felt when I heard that someone who was practically a stranger had started a fundraising campaign for our family when Aaron passed away, and I now consider Naomi to be a great friend as she just jumped right in and did the one thing that she knew she could do to help from afar.

The money that she helped to raise gave us some breathing space in those first few months to just be able to grieve.  We didn't have to stress too much about how we were going to pay the bills or buy food and I could just concentrate on the boys and getting through each day. 

This afternoon I asked Jay what he thought about starting a fundraising page to help Jackson and his Mum.  We talked about how the money could help them just get through the next little while and hopefully help with funeral costs and he thought it was a great idea.

Please read, share and donate to the Bowen family if you can by clicking on this link.  Even $5 makes a difference. 

Lots of love to you Jackson and Liz.  We hope you know that many people love and care and want to help.