The following email was received.

... You assume that your children aren't supposed to die. You wait to see your children grow and mature, and at the end we, the mothers, should go first. This is the normal road life should take. The passing away of a child signifies a loss of the future, a loss of hope and dreams. It appears that this emptiness follows me wherever I go. Sometimes it is so intense and real that I can almost touch it and see it. Sometimes it is so much, that I can see nothing else. The loss of a child disorients you, it tears at you, it hurts you, and letting go is impossible. The tie you make with your child goes beyond death. Our children are in our blood, the tie that bonds us seems impenetrable. This is an infinite thread of pain and sadness, the wound may heal but the scar will stay there forever. This changes our life and we will never be the same people we once were. As we try to go on we realize that we have survived and we try to be strong enough to support what it is, one of the toughest blows life can throw you. We fight to continue living, while we make this devastation a part of our personal history, a part of our very selves. We learn to live inside of our memories with lost hopes and destroyed dreams, we will never overcome this loss, we will only learn to live with it. This is an infinite pain, it touches every aspect of my existence. When you lose a child we mothers cry for this for the rest of our lives, this pain becomes a part of us. With the passing of time we learn to appreciate this pain because it is the only thing that ties us to our children, the pain is our connection Our memories are precious gifts from our hearts, these memories give us the feeling of eternal peace, a feeling of being close to our lost little ones. I look for a reason for my loss, for my life without him, it is a long ride, sad, and heavy, and extremely lonely, a process which is never really over. The pain for the loss of a child is the only one which we cannot let go of, any other wound, we attempt to heal and forget. "We are locked away by the panic, pain, sadness, fury, and anguish." There is no relationship like the one of a mother and child, it is unique and special. The bond is so powerful that it's strength supports time, distance, and conflict. There is no comparison to losing your child. In the event of your child’s death you no longer feel complete. We will always be in pain, we will always be in remembrance, we wish more than anything to smell their scent, feel their embrace, hear their voice. Mentioning his name can fill my eyes with tears, and can also sound like music to my ears. There is no number of words or tears that can explain this pain, there is only a small piece of my heart left. I will love you forever, Tu mama,Betty

The author is the mother of Leonardo Barquin.