GALLERY and VIDEO: ‘With love and a happy heart’
RADIOKOP – Little Dylan Jolliffe paid special tribute to her father in the hope of bringing him back.
Eight-year-old Dylan Jolliffe has had to deal with the loss of her mother earlier this year, and now recently, the death of her father. She is currently attending Sunny Smiles Assisted Learning Centre in Radiokop, Honeydew.
“She is in Grade 1 with so much potential but is extremely traumatised. She is dealing not only with the loss of her mom and father but also other problems too,” explained owner and teacher Diane O’ Carroll.
She explained that the little girl’s granny is looking after her, but is battling financially and emotionally after the loss of her son. “There is a huge lemon tree in the garden at Sunny Smiles, and I allowed her to hit the lemons down with a broom, and told her we’re going to make lemonade out of lemons that have been thrown.”
Dylan verbalised 30 different things she was upset or angry about in her life which was then written down on her ‘Lemon List’. The next day Sunny Smiles made lemonade out of her lemons. “I want Dylan to understand these things don’t have to define her and she can learn how to make good out of bad,” explained O’ Carroll.
This year was Dylan’ s first Father’s Day without her dad and she wanted to give her dad a gift. She was advised by O’Carrol that the best present she could give her dad is to have a happy heart and to always try make good choices in her life.
Dylan was helped by a teacher and transcribed a letter to her dad. The letter read as follows: Dear Daddy, I hope you are happy in Heaven, everybody hasn’t been happy since you’ve been gone. I have been missing you a lot Daddy and I have been sleeping in your bed hoping you’ll come back to me. I know you wished for a spider, but all I can give you is my love and a happy heart. Happy Father’s Day.
We put her letters to ‘Daddy’ in helium balloons and then we let the balloons into the sky.
“This little girl needs lots of love and support,” said O’ Carrol. She explained that if people want to help by donating to the little girl they should contact her as she is setting up a fund.
Details: Diane O’ Carrol 082 410 9270.
