r By Jacob Gossner
The Angel Series at My Story Matters is dedicated to children who left this life much too soon. We work with families to tell the life story of their child who has passed away. Recently we worked with Elizabeth to tell Jesse’s story. You can read more about that process in another article in this issue of Serve Daily. Below, you will read an excerpt of Jesse’s priceless story, told from the perspective of his mother.
Jesse was a wonderful surprise. He was born only 13 months after our seventh child. He came at a very busy, in fact, you could say, a rather crazy, time. Jesse was born the week before Christmas Eve. He came home from the hospital in a Christmas stocking. He was the best gift we got that year.
Jesse wrote his mom’s biography when he was in 2nd grade. He drew the cutest pictures to go along with the story. Jesse was always a lot of fun. He liked to joke and play around. He loved to make others laugh, and he often played pranks. Jesse loved people and had a lot of friends. His teachers always said they enjoyed having him in class and that he entertained everyone.
One of my favorite memories of Jesse and Stefen is going with their friends late one night to Wal-Mart in Payson to buy the game “Rock Band.” I would sometimes play with Jesse and his friends. Jesse would play the drums a lot, and he was really good. We had so much fun!
Jesse had a talent for self-acceptance, which led to acceptance of others. He had a lot of friends because he loved everyone and everyone loved him. He had really great artistic abilities as well. The year before he passed away, we got Jesse a guitar. He was enjoying learning to play. Jesse had almost gotten his Eagle Scout award when he passed away, and he received an honorary Eagle after his death. A few weeks before Jesse passed away, he got his sister Audri a miniature rose for her birthday.
Our last day with Jesse was Sunday, July 4. Losing Jesse was the hardest thing we have ever gone through. It was hard not to have any good-byes. We all spoke at Jesse’s funeral. We wanted to share how Jesse’s life had blessed our family and our lives. At his funeral, we shared Marianne Williamson’s poem, “Our Greatest Fear.” It talks about how as we have the courage to let our light shine, we help other people to do the same. Jesse did that – for everyone who knew him.
Upon receipt of Jesse’s book, Jesse’s sister posted, “My mom put together a beautiful book recently, full of memories and stories from Jesse’s life. This one is just for our family, which is a giant blessing she did that for us.”
To nominate a family to tell their child’s story go to www.mystorymatters.org/nominate.
