Timothy Patrick Clark

Happy Thanksgiving Day

From our Family to yours!

God Bless!!

                 

 

 

 

"We're alike you and I
And we need each other.
Don't turn away but give me your hand
And for a time we can cease to be strangers.
And become who we truly are,
A family closer than blood.
United by a bond that was forced upon us--
But a bond that can make us stronger,
Still wounded and not sure,
But stronger because our sorrows are shared."
"WE NEED NOT WALK ALONE"
~ By Judy Dickey ~

How We Survive

If we are fortunate,
we are given a warning.

If not,
there is only the sudden horror,
the wrench of being torn apart;
of being reminded
that nothing is permanent,
not even the ones we love,
the ones our lives revolve around.

Life is a fragile affair.
We are all dancing
on the edge of a precipice,
a dizzying cliff so high
we can't see the bottom.

One by one,
we lose those we love most
into the dark ravine.

So we must cherish them
without reservation.
Now.
Today.
This minute.
We will lose them
or they will lose us
someday.
This is certain.
There is no time for bickering.
And their loss
will leave a great pit in our hearts;
a pit we struggle to avoid
during the day
and fall into at night.

Some,
unable to accept this loss,
unable to determine
the worth of life without them,
jump into that black pit
spiritually or physically,
hoping to find them there.

And some survive
the shock,
the denial,
the horror,
the bargaining,
the barren, empty aching,
the unanswered prayers,
the sleepless nights
when their breath is crushed
under the weight of silence
and all that it means.

Somehow, some survive all that and,
like a flower opening after a storm,
they slowly begin to remember
the one they lost
in a different way...

The laughter,
the irrepressible spirit,
the generous heart,
the way their smile made them feel,
the encouragement they gave
even as their own dreams were dying.

And in time, they fill the pit
with other memories
the only memories that really matter.

We will still cry.
We will always cry.
But with loving reflection
more than hopeless longing.

And that is how we survive.
That is how the story should end.
That is how they would want it to be.

I read about Timmy's murder) on http://www.members.tripod.com/~VanessaWest/victims2.html. I was deeply moved. Thank you for taking the time to put into words your story. You made Timmy real to me and now he's not just some statistic. I have never lost anyone under such circumstances, so you have educated me too. I never stopped and realized that the friends and family ARE the forgotten ones. I never realized that bereaved people have to come up with a reward fund. I also never knew that someone who has lost a dear one, as you have, can be left alone by their friends, family...etc, as if they have "leprosy." However, I will say that none of us seem to be able to find the words to make sense out of a crime like this and are afraid. I'm sure what you have been made to go through (and are going through) is very frightening too. Ultimately, however, the death of one person DOES make an impact on everyone in some way and I can believe the impact can be positive. For me, the death of Timmy has made me resolve to become a better person. I choose to treat others with more kindness and compassion. I also do daily work on forgiveness and that which I have to be thankful for. Timmy's death has made me realize there are no guarantees. Life is precious. Thank you so much for having this website. My heart is with you.