An extract from Chapter 6 ... The Little Pink Teddy Once we got back home, we wanted to create something in Claire-Margaret’s memory that would forever be part of our lives, a bad substitute, but at least something... In the dining room display cabinet there is an alcove about one meter wide and in the centre, most importantly is a small glass case about 40cm square in which sits “Teddy” on a crystal pedestal. The little pink teddy-bear is a present that Claire-Margaret gave Debra a few months before the tragedy, with the words depicted on the beanie that teddy wears “I love you mum”. When Debra first received the call that Claire-Margaret had “allegedly” hung herself, in that instant her whole world was ripped out from underneath her, she picked up the little pink teddy and clutched teddy close to her heart for the next three days representing hope that Claire-Margaret would survive the ordeal. Teddy, clutched to Debra’s heart in desperate hope, accompanied us in our mad rush to get to Townsville ICU. On arriving at the ICU and having been led to Claire-Margaret’s bedside, Debra put teddy under her hand, with her fingers resting lightly around teddy while she fought for life over the next two days. Teddy was even present when the specialists conducted the “test of life” while Debra and I looked on in utter despair and subsequently, while life support was switched off under Australian regulations, constituting the worst day in our lives. Teddy has a locket around it’s neck containing some of Claire-Margaret’s ashes and sits next to other personal items that we placed in the glass memorial, all of which were close to Claire-Margaret. A watch and it’s smashed face bares testimony to the physical abuse her ex-boyfriend subjected her to, but there are other items which represented happier days in her life like her favourite perfume bottle, her belly button ring and other rings she wore, including her much cherished bracelet that her brother had given her. The alcove also holds a photo album filled with photos of Claire-Margaret’s life and of happier times, two recent framed pictures mounted behind the glass case, a silver White Ribbon wrist bangle with Claire-Margaret’s name, date of birth and date of death engraved onto it, and a small crystal block with Claire-Margaret’s image carved into the centre. On the right hand side of the glass case is a crystal vase filled with colourful flowers to cheer up the memorial and to try and make sure that we and other visitors are reminded of the good times during Claire-Margaret’s short twenty years. On the left hand side is another crystal vase which holds fresh roses from my garden. Since Claire-Margaret passed away, I have replaced the roses twice a week, and continued to do so without fail, for the past three years, even in the winter months. I even planted forty two rose bushes in our garden to make sure I have a fresh supply throughout the year, taking special care to fertilize them in such a way that they continued to produce, even in winter when colder weather set in. The alcove has two feature lights that light up the whole alcove and a small fluorescent light hidden behind the glass memorial that lights up the crystal pillar that teddy sits on. The alcove lighting is controlled by a timer so that Claire-Margaret is never in darkness but always a shining light in our lives.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 07:51:05 +0000