In memory of our son Charlie who passed away on April 10, 2023.
On March 29th, 2023, 22 month old Charlie was admitted into McMaster Children's Hospital PICU due to respiratory issues the next two weeks were painful as the team at McMaster struggled to figure out what was wrong with Charlie. During this time our dance family at Not Just Another Dance Studio began providing meals for our family and were being given money donations to help. When Doctors finally came to the conclusion it was likely a rare mitochondrial disease they told us most likely Charlie wouldn't be coming home if he did his best case scenario is life on feeding tubes and respiratory support. So the NJADS family put that money into a GoFundMe to help our family with either outcome: The support we would need to accommodate him if he came home or the support and funds we would need when he didn't. Our family kept those who donated in the loop through the rest of Charlie's journey and on April 10th, Easter Monday. We said our goodbyes. Many people continued to look for updates so we started a blog. It was called "Forever in Touch" inspired by a portrait of Charlie reaching for the camera which he seems to do in many photos and videos. When our friend drew the portrait it was to remind us that Charlie will be Forever in Touch.
We have since through our grief journey heard other grievers, ourselves and our family say "sometimes I just want a badge that says my son died and I want to talk about him" or "something that tells people I'm sorry if I'm being cranky or distant this is why...
We bought a button press to make buttons with Charlie's face so we could wear it around, show his picture to people and include him in family photos. We then decided to take it to the next step and turn those phrases so many of us what to say and put it on buttons.
