Our
Vision for "Pathways of Hope" is to become a place of refuge and hope
for parents, and a place to honor our children called home long before
their time, but according to God's time.
Pathways of Hope Crew
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Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.~ Hebrews 10:23
My prayer is that Pathways
of Hope will bring a renewed sense of hope for Mothers and families who
have struggled through the loss of a child.
As they walk through Pathways, my hope is that they can learn of their
Father in Heaven, and most importantly that they are never alone and there is
more to life than what we can see or hear, we have to KNOW that!
Pathways will be a a
place for families to go and reconnect and count the many blessing they have,
even when life's trials can bring us down, we always have hope! While walking
through the path you will see scriptures along the way, and memorials that
express things that have helped many of us parents, forced by circumstance to
survive the death of our child, and still carry on.
There is nothing that can ever compare or words to describe this loss. However,
we do KNOW that God gave his ONLY SON, so that we may live and not perish, but
have everlasting LIFE. What a sacrifice it was! He did that for US, so that WE
may have "a" hope for eternity with our child in Heaven and those we
have lost. Sometimes that one desire is the ONLY thing we hold on to through
this darkness and never ending unbearable pain.
God
has given us a promise and THAT is HOPE!
Throughout Pathways of Hope we will honor the life of our "child", by
sharing God's promises with all who walk the journey with us, WE WILL walk a
walk of FAITH and STAND FIRM on GOD'S promises to us.
Kimberly D. Manuel Bourgeois
Kim's hope is that it's a place of healing for many and also a place to gain strength to walk this walk and stay strong on the journey ahead, no matter how bad it feels, it's temporary! Because the end result "our eternity" is worth any price we can pay on Earth!
Eileen Antilla-Turner I would like to thank the Pathways Crew for walking this walk with me - Eileen Turner, Jennifer Soileau, Regina Fontenot, Tonya Fontenot, Amber Savoy and Holly LaFleur. You women are amazing and I love each of you very much!
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Ryan
inspires me to be more, do more, and most of all to Love God with ALL
THAT I AM, in the same way I love my only Son. Ryan will live in my heart
forever, even on days when I find it so hard to breathe, and I sink to my knees and beg God to please help me, because I do not understand, no matter what:
~I WILL look up.
~I WILL find Hope in God's promises that I will see my son again.
~I WILL stand firm in FAITH that I will be there with him soon.
~I will TRUST GOD every day and ONE day all of this will make sense, but until then I will do what God has put me here to do.
~I will HONOR my son's life and his memory every second of every day.
I'll be seeing you soon Ryan Blake
Always,
"Ryan's MOM"
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I
was asked in a recent interview with the Eunice News by Jaime Comeaux
what was my favorite memory. This threw me because I have SO many
amazing memories of my son, but the following is my response:
When
you asked me my best memory,I was flooded with many, dancing with Ryan
every morning when he was a baby, his first tooth, first steps, first
expression of bliss when he got his first three wheeler, his first
date, prom, getting married. However, the most powerful moment in our
lives was the day he walked out to my car to meet me after having
rededicated his life to Jesus. The expression on his face of pure joy
in knowing he was forgiven, and saved meant more to me than any other
moment of our lives. He told me he felt so at peace, more free, more
joy, more acceptance and was filled with more love than he had ever
known in his short lifetime, like a huge weight was lifted off his
shoulders and he was "happy". I remember hugging him and saying "I am
SO proud of you Son". That was a defining moment for us, and will
always be the memory most sacred to me. What I wanted most in life for
my son, was acceptance, love, and a feeling inside that when he woke up
in the morning he KNEW without a doubt he could hold his head high and
be proud of who he is, I am FOREVER PROUD OF MY SON. I miss him every
second of the day, but I have joy in knowing ONE DAY I WILL SEE HIM
AGAIN! I can't wait to see his smile and to hear him say "Hi MOM, I
have missed YOU".
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I would like to THANK - Heather Bogard of the Ville Platte Gazette for
finally adding Ryan's photo and family information to the obituary that
was originally posted and printed because of Ardoin Funeral homes lack
of care and respect when s ubmitting the first obituary to be printed which read:
May 24, 1989 - July 16, 2010
MAMOU - Funeral services will be held for Ryan Blake Dunn, 21, of Mamou
at Ardoin’s Funeral Home Chapel in Mamou at 2 p.m., Sunday, July 18.
Burial followed in Ardoin’s Cemetery.
Ardoin’s Funeral Home of Mamou is in charge of arrangements.
Read more: EvangelineToday.com - Ryan Blake Dunn
It was submitted as such by Ardoins - NO PHOTO, NO MENTION OF HIS
FAMILY - nothing. Just cold and empty. That HURT in more ways than I
can ever communicate. However, I wrote to evangelinetoday.com and
received the following:
Hi Kim, I had to do some
digging. I ran the free, short notice in the paper back then because
that was what the funeral home submitted. I did find the free version,
as well as a full version on the web site. I updated the obituary and
added the photo. The following are the links to all three versions. The
newest one is first. I apologize for the heartache you are going
through.
Heather Bogard,
VP Gazette
http://villeplattetoday.com/view/full_story/18716052/article-Ryan-Blake-Dunn?
http://villeplattetoday.com/view/full_story/8958239/article-Ryan-Blake-Dunn?
http://villeplattetoday.com/view/full_story/8801304/article-Ryan-Blake-Dunn?
For THIS reposting - and correction I THANK HEATHER BOGARD!!!!! Her
compassion and care is commendable! THIS was the best gift I could have
ever received for Ryan's 23rd Birthday!
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