A story for Liana

You had another brother. His name was Lev. He would have loved you so much, but he didn’t live long enough to get to know you. 

He was funny and loved to joke around. 

He loved exploring outside and playing imaginary games. He imagined whole worlds with his friends. 

But, one day he got sick. He was so sick his body couldn’t live any more. He died and will be gone forever.

His brother, mother and father missed him soooo much.  They didn’t know what to do. 

They still think about him every day. They were very sad, but their lives continued on without him. They ate, they slept, they worked, and they went on walks. Lev’s brother went to school and learned and made new friends, but he still missed his brother. 

Sometimes they laughed and sometimes they cried. 

Then, one day they decided that they would like to have another baby. Babies are full of love, and they could give a baby all the extra love they held inside. 

So, many months later they had you, and you were a happy baby. You smiled a lot and made them smile. They never forgot about Lev, and they still missed him, but you made them happier and they loved doing things with you. 

(Liana will grow up with a different understanding of death and life. This will be a part of her life story. A few months ago I was wondering how we will explain it to her and I wrote this for her. She sometimes looks at a picture of Lev and gets excited about the fact that he is wearing a hat in the picture, and I tell her, "That is your brother Lev, but he's not here. We miss him.")