May 1, 1991 began for me, a sorrowful journey
through the terrible pain caused by the death of a child.
Shari died of suicide one day short of her seventeenth birthday,
taking with her a great chunk of my heart.

On the third day after Shari's burial, my fourteen year
old daughter, Melinda and I went up to the cemetery to see if we 
could salvage some of the beautiful baskets from the floral
arrangements laid at her grave. On arrival at the grave, I was
astonished to see a jumble of flowers, ribbon and baskets
strewn about the area.

Meanwhile,Melinda was trying to turn my attention
to another sight further down the hill.  As I looked to where
she pointed, I saw two small rabbits perched nose to nose in 
the new grass.  Suddenly, one rabbit shot straight up into the
air.  As soon as he touched the ground, they both sped off chasing
around in a big circle higher up toward us, where they again stopped
nose to nose. By the time one of the rabbits sprang up into the air
a second time, we were laughing - right there at Shari's new grave.
  
Immediately after returning home, I walked into the
dining room and saw the Easter basket which Shari had left
there.  I looked in and was startled to see the only items
left, two miniature chocolate rabbits.

Almost exactly two years later, I went to the cemetery
on the afternoon of Shari's birth, May 2.  As I stopped my car
in the drive, I could see a rabbit standing by the side of Shari's
gravestone.  I quietly got out of my car and moved closer. From where
I now stood, I was greatly amazed to see a second rabbit guarding the
other side of the stone.

I truly believe that the rabbits were God's gift to me
as a reminder of the joy and wonder still available to me if I
would allow it into my life. The reminder of God's gentle creatures
causing laughter in the presence of great sorrow helps to pull me
through the dark times.  On a shelf in our home, two small chocolate
rabbits continue to honor Shari's memory and God's gift of love.

					by Donna Fitts, April 1997