At first this picture shocked me a bit. Let's face it, you don't usually see a child playing in a sandbox set up next to a gravestone. As I read further, I found a truly beautiful story about a grieving family and how this sandbox is helping them to cope. 

It's hard enough trying to understand death as an adult, never mind trying to explain it to your child. Ashlee Hammac had that challenge in October of 2013 when after only five days, she lost her second son Ryan. Explaining this to her young son Tucker would prove to be challenging. All he wanted to do was play with his brother and he had nine months to dream about it. This was an obvious shock for the family, there were no warnings of any problems during the pregnancy.

Ashlee decided to add a sandbox to Ryan's gravesite, she figured it would help with Tucker's grieving process. She was surprised at how much it helped her. He feels like he is playing with his brother every time they visit and therapists say this is very healthy. Some people had mixed reactions to this idea but who really cares what anyone thinks, any mother or father has a right to grieve their child's loss in any way that helps the process, in my opinion.

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