MEMORY TREE

This community is made up of many families. Families help each other through good and bad times. The saddest of times is when we are struggling with the loss of a loved one. The pain is constant, day to day, and particularly difficult during times of celebration. It seems it will never end. Consider this thought as written by Linda Romar.

There’s a Hole in the Fabric

The tightly woven fabric of the family has a hole in it today. We lost a member of our family. There will be no way to over mend that fabric completely. It will eventually fray out and become softer. It’s hard to look forward to the time when that will happen, because it is so painful now. That hole is hard, sharp, and hurtful. My heart is blinded by the pain. My mind knows it will soften with time, but when will that happen?…that nice, soft, frayed hole in the fabric of our family .

Several years ago, a beautiful, blue spruce was placed in the center of the common by Gary and Sandy Brougham in memory of their son, Scott Richard Brougham. Lit at Christmas time, it commemorates the life of all special people. Each year since then, the tree has been lit at the Fair in memory of many special people in our lives. Blank ornaments are left on a table for anyone to write messages of remembrance and hang them on the tree. When the fair is over, the ornaments are carefully removed from the tree and eventually hung as a tribute in future years. In time, traditions that help us celebrate the lives of those people we remember, help soften the pain. During the Fair, the tree continues to be lit. Is there someone you miss? Hang a remembrance on the tree. Let the Memory Tree, lit with twinkling lights, symbolize the holes in the fabric of our Belchertown family. Eskimos believe that the stars are not stars at all, rather openings in Heaven where the light of our loved one pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy. As you gaze into the night sky at the brilliant stars, know that your angel is shining their light and love down upon you.