How a Community Came Together to Support a Grieving Family

I know. Beautiful heartbreak. What an oxymoron…right? But if you were there the other day…you know exactly what I mean.

I have wrestled with whether to not share what’s been on my heart. After all…it’s not my story to share. But, the story and its words kept nudging me and tugging at my emotions. I finally decided that even though the complete story is not mine to share…there are chapters in this story that should be shared.

For those of you that read my blog and are local, you are aware of the heartbreak a dearly loved family in our community has endured these past several days. And you have also been witness to the beauty and strength of a community wrapping their arms and prayers around this family in tthe midst of their grief. If you are not local and are not aware of our small community’s loss…my prayer is that you never do know of a loss such as this. But, if you do…I hope you live in a community that comes together as mine has. A community that has demonstrated exactly what beautiful heartbreak looks like.

Monday, a family in our community said their “see you laters” to their beautiful 14-year-old daughter. If you had to go back and read that again…I get it. Their 14-year-old daughter. It doesn’t make sense to me either. Despite the fact that it just shouldn’t have been at all…the service was everything it should have been. It was filled with music and memories. With tears…plenty of tears. But with plenty of laughter, too Laughter, light and love. And that’s who she was. The afternoon encompassed everything that Caili was and how she lived every day of her life. This was her story. This was her family’s story.

But the story that is happening inside, underneath and around all of this is the story of our community. Within hours of the news, the community was in motion. Someone started an online fundraising campaign for the family. Someone else made sure the family wouldn’t have to worry about their pantry or refrigerator for a couple of weeks by organizing a “meal-train”. A “meal-train” that was nearly filled by the end of the day. That online fundraising effort…by early afternoon, the initial goal had been met. So the goal was elevated. And quickly met. And elevated yet again. And quickly met yet again. And this scene has replayed throughout the last five days and is simply incredible. Someone else started a memorial account at our hometown bank for people to have the ability to contribute locally. The words “we should host something like a benefit dinner and auction” were spoken and just like that, it was underway. The mother who took on this responsibility reached out to the local Middle-High School as a possible location to host the dinner and auction. Without a second thought, the answer was yes. And not only yes, but also an immediate offer to absorb all the responsibilities of the dinner, allowing that mom and those helpjng her to focus their full attention on securing auction items. And the auction items…boy, oh boy! Does this community know how to show up! The donations are pouring in and the magnitude of the generosity of our local businesses and citizens is astounding! Good, good things are happening in the midst of a sad, sad time. Beautiful heartbreak.

I have heard that there are other campaigns and opportunities to help being planned. This part of the story is certainly “to be continued”. And I, for one, cannot wait to read the next chapter. To be a part of the next chapter. And this…this is why my heart guided me to share this story. We, the collective we, need more of this. More kindness. More love. More understanding. More support. If you are a part of this community or a community like this…you already know how lucky you are. You have been a character in one of these stories. Whatever your role, your contribution or your experience…you’ve been a part of someone’s beautiful heartbreak. If you are not blessed enough to already belong to a community such as this…CREATE a community such as this. Foster this kindness. Be this support. Start the story. You will never regret it.