[mountaineer]

My heart breaks for you, and I offer no explanation for why this has happened. I only can pray that God comfort you and your family. Although little Michael is happy and at peace, I know you are hurting. May God grant you strength, comfort, peace and - eventually - understanding.

[sneakers]

Dear Oxford:

My heart goes out to you and your wife. My sister lost her son in February - quite unexpectedly. I know from watching her in her grief that the loss of a child is the worst kind of an ordeal than anyone can go through. God has indeed taken your little angel to heaven with Him. I pray that God give you strength and peace in this time of sorrow and loss. My nephew, who was 23, loved children. I know that he is with your son Michael and the two of them are smiling down of their parents right this very moment.

Please accept my deepest condolences.

[IronJack]

I don't know what we are going to do.

You're going to raise your chin and go on, secure in the knowledge that God gave you a precious life for a brief moment.

We are all so upset.

Of course you are. You have every right to be.

Please pray for me, my wife, and my other children.

Already done, and will be repeated. God comfort all of you in this time of trial.

[ClancyJ]

I am so very sorry for your loss. My prayers will be with you and your family. I know it will be extremely hard as I have also lost a son but God will help you through this. Your child will live with you always in your heart and will be there daily with you.

Life gives us some hard things to take and we wonder why us. Yet, this is not heaven here. This world has sickness, sorrow and death. Heaven is to come and you will be reunited there.

[monkeyshine]

Oh Lord, please give aid and comfort to Michael's family, so that they may know that Michael is with you and that you have taken him for a reason.

OxfordMovement, I am so saddened by this horrible news. I am truly sorry to hear this. My heartfelt condolences to you and your family.

[saradippity]

I can only imagine how sad,how stunned and how nightmarish everything is right now. It is the most awful thing a parent can experience and words cannot assuage the pain.Nevertheless,I am sorry and my thoughts and prayers are with you and for you and your family.I pray that God,Who knows everything,will give you comfort and a comprehension that will help you,your family and others.

When an innocent dies,I see the communion of the saints who have gone on before us,and who know us best,waiting to take Michael by the hand and introduce him to all of the others who wait to see us again.

[christine]

words fail me, oxford. all i can say is that my heart goes out to you at this terrible and tragic time.

though i have not lost my son, i have lost my younger sister and experienced it with my own grief, as well as for and with my parents and other siblings.

may the lord keep and console you, your wife, and your family.

with deepest sympathy, christine

[kattracks]

My heartfelt condolences to you and your family. You are in my prayers.

God Bless you all.

[xp38]

A prayer for Micheal and his family.

[deadhead]

I am so very sorry. My Thoughts and Prayers are with Michael, as well as with you, your wife and your children. God Bless All of you. May you gain strength and comfort from God at this sad, so sad time. Take Care

Rest In Peace Michael

[McGavin999]

You have our prayers Oxford. My heart just aches for you and your family. Only God can take the pain from your heart but please know that your Freeper family will be begging God to bring you comfort.

I'm just so sorry....

[Chesterbelloc]

My son has a medical condition such that we have come to know quite a few parents who have lost their little ones. This was posted on a support group that we belong to last year:

TO ALL PARENTS

I will lend to you, for a time
A child of mine, He said
For you to love while she lives,
And mourn for when she's dead.

It may be six or seven years.
or twenty-two or three.
But will you, till I call her back
Take care of her for me?

She'll bring her charms to gladden you
And should her stay be brief,
You'll have her lovely memories,
As solace for your grief.

I cannot promise she will stay,
Since all from Earth returns,
But there are lessons taught down here
I want this child to learn.

I've looked the wide world over,
In search of teachers true.
And from the throngs that crowd life's lanes
I have selected you.

Now will you give her all your love,
Nor think the labour vain,
Nor hate me when I come to call
To take her back again?

I fancied that I heard them say
Dear Lord, thy will be done.
For all the joys thy child shall bring,
The risk of grief we'll run.

We'll shelter her with tenderness,
We'll love her while we may,
And for the happiness we've known
Forever grateful stay.

But should the angels call for her
Much sooner than we've planned,
We'll brace the bitter grief that comes
And try to understand.

-author unknown

[RaceBannon]

I am sorry for your loss.

Baptists like myself believe that children who are too young to understand what sin is, and the difference bewteen right and wrong go automatically to heaven when they die.

Please do not think I am being coarse or anything, I am trying to tell you that your son is happier now than he ever was on Earth because he is with Jesus right now! All his Earthly pains and troubles are forgotten already. He does think of you, people still remember their life on Earth, but he is in paradise right now!

Cherish your memory of him, it is supposed to hurt, that just means you loved him. But, do not fret or worry about where he is. He was just a small child. God never condemns those who are too young to be accountable for their sinful nature, He loves them and welcomes them with open arms!

So, be happy! Michael is in Heaven, looking down on us, hoping that we pay attention to what he sees God whispering in our ears right now!

[MarMema]

Memory Eternal, dear Michael.

[F.J. Mitchell]

I don't understand either, I'm not sure we mortals could understand it if God sat down with us and tried to explain it. The only relief from the almost unbearable heartache that the loss of Michael has brought upon his loved ones, is to find a way to accept it as the will of a loving, merciful God, whose plans span eternity.

It doesn't take a great imagination to put ourselves in the place of family members who have lost a child, though it is little comfort to them, we all mourn their loss.

You and your's have my prayers, Oxford. I pray for the acceptance of this heart breaking loss as serving the will and eternal purpose of God, and for the miracle that one day it may even be understood.

May God bless and strenghten you all, and please forgive me if my words sound like platitudes.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Sites for parents who've lost a child

I'll pray that you receive strength and comfort from God during this time.

[Luis Gonzalez]

Oh my God!

My God...

I have a three year-old.

I am so sorry this has happened, I have no words to say to you.

How you and your wife must feel right now.

Oh my God, please, please watch over this family who is hurting.

I'm so sorry...

[JMJ333]

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

God Bless you in your grief.

I am so sorry such a tragedy happened.

They have NO IDEA what caused him to go to heaven?

[Libertina]

My deepest sympathies to you and your wife, Oxford, and my hopes that the two of you will turn to each other and God to stay strong.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."
Cor I, 3-4