Courtney’s Stocking

The first Christmas after Courtney’s death we didn’t know what to do with her stocking. It didn’t seem right to not hang it. So we did. 

As that first Advent proceeded, I thought of our girl everyday. As the emotions overwhelmed me so many times that first year, I ended up putting little slips of paper in her stocking, scribbled with prayer requests for her intercession and messages of grief, pouring out my heart with how much I missed her. 

The idea stuck. The grief has eased slightly in the four years since her passing but every once in awhile, I miss her so deeply, I have to sit down and write it out. A little note from my heart to to my daughter in heaven. 

“Life is made of of meetings and partings. That is the way of it” A Muppet Christmas Carol

So we hang her stocking and fill it with prayer requests, asking for her intercession. We write little notes telling her how she is missed. We love and remember her through using slips of paper to reveal our hearts. 

It has become a beloved tradition. Courtney Elizabeth you are loved my daughter. You are missed every day. We always remember.