The twinkle in his eyes, the dimple in his cheek. He drew people in with his joyful spirit. And though he is gone, the light of his smile will not fade from our memories.

One day Tristan was happily playing, strong and healthy. The next he was gone, after a seizure and a brief battle with heart failure. It happened so quickly, and accepting that he’s no longer with us is hard.

A child’s death is a tragedy... and Tristan’s absence makes us ache. It’s tempting to shut down our hearts and let no more children in. But then we remember Tristan’s smile. And we remember that if he hadn’t come here and known love, he might never have shared his beautiful smile. We remember that the greatest tragedy would have been for him to die alone, unknown and unloved.

We remember his smile and the power of love. We remember that love is always a sacrifice. And as we remember, we rejoice. We rejoice that Tristan is no longer an orphan. We rejoice that he is playing on His Father’s lap.

We rejoice that he’s still smiling.

Tristan's Amazing Story