Why No One Can Touch Those Photos on the Fridge?

I walk by my fridge twenty times a day.  I always have without giving it half a thought.  On the fridge are all the school photos of the kids, cousins and friends’ kids from present school years.  But one photo will always remain the same; Madeline’s Grade 8 Grad Photo.  The fridge is a metaphor for all life’s journeys; its struggles and accomplishments.

I find myself, stopping in front of the fridge often and staring at her picture.  There are plenty of pictures of
Maddie around the house.  My house is not a shrine dedicated to her but certainly you can’t walk through my house without noticing the conspicuous assortment of Maddie’s photos.  She will forever be a part of our family.  It’s a constant reminder of how fragile life can be.  How suddenly things can be tossed into turmoil.

The photos on the the fridge represent how life moves on, kids grow up and kids change.  Maddie will always remain that beautiful, fourteen-year-old with braces, huge smiling eyes captured in her school blazer and a loosened neck tie.  What life would’ve looked like for Maddie will remain a mystery.  She will be time-locked as this fourteen-year-old equipped with a bastion of potential, having an audacious sense of humour, tireless compassion and the envy of so many teenagers in her presence.

Zac starts Grade 9 this year at Lawrence Park and although you undoubtedly can tell they are siblings, Zac is forging his own trail and leaving his own legacy.  In many ways, I’m glad Zac decided not to go to NTCI; the school where Madeline started high school.  High school is difficult enough without having to walk in the shadows of his sister.  To many, those shadows cast in darkness.  The reminder of what could have been and not one of past accomplishments.  NTCI is also the school that possesses “Maddie’s Bench” as a reminder to all students that life requires reflection, patience and empathy.

Zac and Sawyer have already grown up immensely over the past year and a half.  They’ve had to deal with so much that has occurred in the wake of Maddie’s death.  They’ve matured well beyond their years in a short period of time.  They’ve experienced so much emotion and wonder how they can possibly be equipped to deal with all of this.  But they have.  It has forever changed them.  They don’t walk around in a dark cloud.  They’re always laughing.  The love that was shared by three now manifests itself between the two of them. Maddie is never far from their thoughts.

The school years will pass and the photos on the fridge will get updated.  The photos being replaced with high school and university graduation shots, wedding pictures and photos of grandchildren; Maddie will forever occupy her place on my fridge, time-locked as a beautiful fourteen-year-old with braces and huge smiling eyes.

Please share and help to support The Maddie Project by bringing greater awareness and access for youths and their families affected by depression and other mental illnesses.

The Maddie Project: Website, FaceBook Page, Instagram, Twitter