Throughout this journey Maria and I have made it a priority to keep Ben and Gabi informed as to how things were going all the time. They have been a huge blessing and have grown very much as they have travelled with us. I am prayerful that their feeling of inclusion will help them through the grieving process, especially in their later teen years and adult life. I have read and heard of people struggling in their young adult life to come to terms with being "shut out" - i.e. in their view not trusted enough to be involved.
Ben and Gabi are key members of our family and deserve no less than our full honesty. For you parents out there, you would also appreciate that children are very perceptive and if they are shut out they will draw their own conclusions, which may be unhealthy.
