2011 Worldwide Candle Lighting Service
On December 11, 2011 at 7pm Calypso's Ocean will be having it's first Annual Worldwide Candle Lighting Service. This was started by The Compassionate Friends. Here's some information:
The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting unites family and friends around the globe in lighting candles for one hour to honor and remember children who have died at any age from any cause. As candles are lit at 7 p.m. local time, creating a virtual wave of light, hundreds of thousands of persons commemorate and honor the memory of children in a way that transcends all ethnic, cultural, religious, and political boundaries. Now believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, the Worldwide Candle Lighting, a gift to the bereavement community from The Compassionate Friends, creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone. Hundreds of formal candle lighting events are held and thousands of informal candle lightings are conducted in homes as families gather in quiet remembrance of children who have died, but will never be forgotten.
The Worldwide Candle Lighting started in the United States in 1997 as a small Internet observance but has since swelled in numbers as word has spread throughout the world of the remembrance.
In 2010, information was submitted to TCF's national website on services in 15 countries outside the United States including more than 530 services, as this special day continues to grow. TCF has been joined in recent years by chapters of several organizations including MISS, MADD, Parents of Murdered Children, SIDS Network, Gilda's Club, and BPUSA and for several years services have been held in all 50 states plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. There is no way to know how many hundreds of additional services open to the public are held in the U.S. and around the world each year without the information being sent to us.
The Compassionate Friends and allied organizations were joined in 2010 by local bereavement groups, churches, funeral homes, hospitals, hospices, children's gardens, schools, cemeteries, and community centers. Services have ranged in size from just a few people to nearly a thousand.
Every year you are invited to post a message in the Remembrance Book which will be available, during the event, at TCF's national website. Last year in that short one day span, nearly five thousand messages of love were received and posted from every U.S. state and Washington D.C., every territory, as well as dozens of other countries, with some posts in foreign languages. You are welcome to view last year's Remembrance Book below.
I attempted a service last year but was snowed out so this will be the first one. Here's some information about the service
Martinsville – Calypso's Ocean
Date & Time: December 11, 2011 - 7:00 PM
Location: Veterans Memorial Park, on the corner of Washington and Jefferson Streets, Martinsville, IN
Highlights: We'll each take a turn speaking our child's name and light a candle in silence. There will also be music.
Bring: A photo or small remembrance if you wish. Dress warmly.
Special Events (after): After the candle lighting a few of us plan on going to our local Starbucks and just talking and sharing a bit about our children. Anyone who wishes to come is very welcome.
Contact: Me
Email: *Removed to avoid Spam*
If you stumble across this site and live locally and would like to come please come on by :)
The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting unites family and friends around the globe in lighting candles for one hour to honor and remember children who have died at any age from any cause. As candles are lit at 7 p.m. local time, creating a virtual wave of light, hundreds of thousands of persons commemorate and honor the memory of children in a way that transcends all ethnic, cultural, religious, and political boundaries. Now believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, the Worldwide Candle Lighting, a gift to the bereavement community from The Compassionate Friends, creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone. Hundreds of formal candle lighting events are held and thousands of informal candle lightings are conducted in homes as families gather in quiet remembrance of children who have died, but will never be forgotten.
The Worldwide Candle Lighting started in the United States in 1997 as a small Internet observance but has since swelled in numbers as word has spread throughout the world of the remembrance.
In 2010, information was submitted to TCF's national website on services in 15 countries outside the United States including more than 530 services, as this special day continues to grow. TCF has been joined in recent years by chapters of several organizations including MISS, MADD, Parents of Murdered Children, SIDS Network, Gilda's Club, and BPUSA and for several years services have been held in all 50 states plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. There is no way to know how many hundreds of additional services open to the public are held in the U.S. and around the world each year without the information being sent to us.
The Compassionate Friends and allied organizations were joined in 2010 by local bereavement groups, churches, funeral homes, hospitals, hospices, children's gardens, schools, cemeteries, and community centers. Services have ranged in size from just a few people to nearly a thousand.
Every year you are invited to post a message in the Remembrance Book which will be available, during the event, at TCF's national website. Last year in that short one day span, nearly five thousand messages of love were received and posted from every U.S. state and Washington D.C., every territory, as well as dozens of other countries, with some posts in foreign languages. You are welcome to view last year's Remembrance Book below.
I attempted a service last year but was snowed out so this will be the first one. Here's some information about the service
Martinsville – Calypso's Ocean
Date & Time: December 11, 2011 - 7:00 PM
Location: Veterans Memorial Park, on the corner of Washington and Jefferson Streets, Martinsville, IN
Highlights: We'll each take a turn speaking our child's name and light a candle in silence. There will also be music.
Bring: A photo or small remembrance if you wish. Dress warmly.
Special Events (after): After the candle lighting a few of us plan on going to our local Starbucks and just talking and sharing a bit about our children. Anyone who wishes to come is very welcome.
Contact: Me
Email: *Removed to avoid Spam*
If you stumble across this site and live locally and would like to come please come on by :)
