Our Lisa Judith was bright, intelligent, full of life. She was on the way to becoming my friend. She confided as much or even more than a teenager confides in a mother…Lisa wore this outfit to the last Bar Mitzvah she attended before her surgery. She was so thrilled with the outfit; she looked so beautiful, with baby's breath intertwined in her hair...There is no such thing as closure - one doesn't heal from the death of a child. The only thing that happens is that as each day passes into a month and a month becomes a year, there is a softening of the wound.

Chad loved the outdoors, ATVs, ski-doos and motorcycles. I'm sending an OC Chopper t-shirt that he used to wear. He loved West Coast Choppers shirts the best but I've given them to his friends. Now when I see these t-shirts I think of Chad immediately. He was such a great kid. I guess he was an angel sent to me, for only a short while. I love him and miss him so much.

This beautiful sweater was a gift from a relative. It kept Kristina warm as a newborn when we went outside that cold winter in 1989. It is a precious memento of that special time and that memory I will cherish forever.

This hoodie holds such strong memories for me, partly because it is a symbol of the kind of man my son was. You see, this hoodie was mine. I accepted it as payment for teaching a dance class…As soon as Jason saw the hoodie, featuring the rival school's logo, he said, "I hope you're not planning to wear that mom!"...A few days later I arrived home to find Jason wearing it. Surprised, I asked, "Surely you didn't wear that to school, did you?" "Yes, I did...They threw me up against the lockers and called me names," he replied. I said, "Oh Jason, I guess you won't be doing that again." "Yes I will," he said. "Why not mom, it builds character!"

I saved all of Sasha's clothes but whenever I think about him this shirt always stands out…When he died I went to the basement and I saw his clothes ready to be washed. I picked up the clothing and there was still his scent on them but he was gone. I wanted to keep this smell forever so I didn't wash them. In the first weeks, I prayed to God just to let me see him once more...I could sit all day and night in one room on the floor; I didn't need anything. I felt I was totally apart, my whole body was aching...The pain was unbearable...I went to Bereaved Families until I felt I could survive on my own. When I asked how you survive this kind of tragedy, someone would respond, "You can't get over this but you learn to live with it." This is the truth...Sasha is always present with us.

There he was looking smashing in a red wool jacket, a sharp contrast to his dark black hair. "You look so handsome in that jacket? Where did you get it?" I asked. "I got it at the Goodwill Store." "Where will you be wearing it?" I said, baffled but so proud of my son's independence. "Oh, it's for my interpretation of Elton John on the piano. That's not all. I also got a bright canary yellow one!"...At John-Micheal's last competition, the emcee noted that we would hear of this young man in the music world in the near future...The red jacket, he wears it into eternity. He never had the chance to wear the yellow one.

Aaron's smile would light up the room…He had the opportunity to travel 400km in Northern Ontario with his friends and family on a very memorable winter adventure doing what he loved to do best: enjoying the great outdoors on his sled. This jacket is one that he wore proudly when out sledding. The colours are vibrant, just as he was and will always remain in our hearts forever. We are honoured to have enjoyed and shared his love of life for almost 19 years...taken too soon...ride on Aaron...ride on!

Can I collect my loss in a neatly typed page? Can I bring my daughter back by washing and ironing and mailing away? I can't. Nonetheless, this project appeals to me. For close to twenty years, giving away my daughter's things has been a sort of ritual…Still, some things remain...There are the dresses she made herself...There is the pink dress she wore for her first job interview...I shall not dwell on the nightmare of horror that happened less than a year later. I shall hang on to the happiness of the day I associate with the pink dress as we drove to my mother's apartment to celebrate Margaret's first full-time job.

As he approached his high school years, my brother, Bruce, discovered a fascination and aptitude for chess…When he was invited to Philadelphia to participate in a prestigious tournament, his passion could not distract him from a focused resolve…For what felt like an eternity after we lost my brother, we were unable to escape the plight and pain of his last days. The path of our healing pressed onward and ever so gradually became less encumbered, as our memory of his wondrous spirit and joyful exuberance so graciously returned the smile to our faces.

I chose these jeans from a basket of fifteen or so. I like that this pair is frayed; it tells me that Leah must have liked these too. She bought jeans like some people buy shoes…The bra and panties are my adult girl who liked lacy, pretty things…I bought this coat for Leah at The Gap. One of my favourite things to do was to shop together...After they'd taken Leah's body, I found a pair of her jeans on the bathroom floor. When my friend saw these she smiled and softly said, "They still have her shape to them."