I remember so clearly, that day when Josie was told that nothing more could be done. her reply to her consultant was, "what a kerfuffle" and she looked at me and simply said "don't worry" and smiled her beautiful smile.

Since then I have been asked many times "how did you bear the pain of knowing that your child was going to die?" and I wonder myself how Josie coped, how she kept that beaming smile and how she managed to keep us all smiling while at the same time she knew that she might not live to see Christmas. 

We had some very difficult conversations, the unimaginable sort, that no parent should have to have with their child and we had to find a way to talk to Josie's siblings (who were then only 13, 10 and a few months) about death and dying and to talk about it as a family.

In the back of my mind l remembered an old fable about how a dragonfly had to leave it's life in the pond as a waterbug and leave it’s family in order to transform into a dragonfly. While it could never return into the pond, it could still look down on it's family from above the water.

The story was a huge help to our young family and a great comfort to Josie. As she read up about dragonflies she realized that they also symbolized strength, courage and happiness, that they were spiritual messengers and represented a free spirit.

So when Josie wanted to design a precious and meaningful necklace the obvious choice was a dragonfly and she had the words Strength, Courage & Happiness inscribed on the back in the hope that she could pass a little of each, on to the wearer.