At the funeral, we gave away Kol bears. Kol bears are little black stuffed bears.
The name Kolbjorn, (or Kolbjørn as it is written in Norwegian) means black or dark bear. Kol is an Old Norse word for black, and bjørn is the Norwegian word for bear.
Kolbjorn loved hugs and cuddles. He would often come sit beside his mom, dad or a sister and rest his head on our shoulders or hold our hands. We sometimes joked that he was our teddy bear. While we can no longer hug him, or feel his head on our shoulders, we have a Kol bear to help us remember him.
 | |
| Brain Cancer Ribbon |
Childhood cancer ribbon
Each Kol bear has 3 ribbons. The grey ribbons on the Kol bears symbolize mourning, and are also the symbol for brain cancer. Gold symbolizes joy, what is precious, and the presence of God. Gold ribbons also symbolize childhood cancer. White is a symbol of resurrection and everlasting life.
I know that there were people who weren't at the funeral, or who were but didn't get a bear. We would like for anyone who would like a bear to remember Kol by to have one. PLEASE - if you would like a bear let me know! Or, if you know of someone else who would appreciate having one, tell me their name. You can e-mail me, or contact us however you want to. We also have extra bulletins from the funeral. Let me know if you'd like me to mail one to you.
I shouldn't be surprised at what kids say any more - our kids have had some incredibly insightful comments - but I am. I just heard of a little girl who told her mom that she thought Kol stands for "Keep on loving". It was so sweet, and so appropriate. It makes me teary. What makes this even more special is that this girl wasn't at Kol's funeral, so she didn't hear what we said about Kol and "love" in the tribute.
Kol loved intensely. Our girls' middle names are Hope, Faith, Joy and Grace. Although Kol was named after his grandfathers, we've often thought or joked that Kol's middle name should be "Love". Kol was passionate about the things he cared about. He didn't just like something, he LOVED it - he was completely absorbed by it. He loved reading. He loved LEGO, Star Wars, and Super Mario. He loved his family - especially his sisters - and he wasn't afraid of showing it. He loved his friends of all ages, and he inspired others to love him back. When he was little, we called him "the charmer." He seemed to instinctively know what to say or do to win people over. I don't know why, or how, but he was drawn to certain people. And they were drawn to him. Through his honest smile, quiet strength, and complete enjoyment of the simple things in life, he has shown us how to love too - to reach out and latch on to those things that are important to us.Keep on loving!
P.S. In case you missed Kirk's post from yesterday, he will be participating in the Saskatoon Spring Sprint. Check out yesterday's post for more information. Also, I have another blog post almost finished, too, so that should be up in the next couple of days.
My dad brought over two Kol Bears for Jude and Murphy today. They started hugging them right awway. I explained to Jude why you have been giving out the bears. I told him that there was a little boy in town who got very sick and died, and his family and friends miss hugging him every day. I told him these were special bears to snuggle with to remember a special little boy who lives with Jesus now. Jude picked up his bear and said, "Special bear? Jude Kiss?" and he kissed and hugged it. What a beautiful idea to let everyone have the chance to hug a sweet little bear to remember sweet little Kolbjorn!
ReplyDelete