Mommy Diaries: An angel in heaven: Irish community shell shocked by the loss of Rory Staunton

Irish community at home and abroad mourns the loss of Rory Staunton

His life was epic really. He accomplished so much in such a short space of time.

Rory’s achievements put a lot of us to shame. He was positive, energetic, eager, and most importantly empathic and kind hearted. A trait he gets from his parents.

Orlaith is a soft soul that embraces everyone she meets. She has kind eyes, a big smile and one feels immediately welcomed in her presence.

Ciaran has one of the biggest hearts anyone possesses. He firmly acts on what’s right, stands up for the better good and spends countless hours fighting for the rights of others. He is well-known and loved throughout the Irish community and beyond. So with parents like that Rory was bound to be an amazing kid.

It must be hard for his friends to understand what happened. I think everyone in the Irish community and the Sunnyside community is still trying to figure it out, but most of all it must be next to impossible for Ciaran, Orlaith and Rory’s sister Kathleen to make sense of it all.

I hope with Rory’s help from above the Stauntons will find some sort of peace with this.  Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow and maybe never, but I will pray that at some point it will get easier and life will begin to seem bright again.

After the service, Mary, Orla and I (all moms of six-week old girls and older toddlers) went home and hugged our children tightly. I think every parent at Rory’s celebratory service did the same that day.

The saddest words any of us could every say to our children is goodbye. I pray we won’t have to.

As I write this the family is back in Ireland to bury their loved one in Drogheda, Co. Louth, beside his nana. A beautiful resting place I’m told.

We, the Irish community in New York, pray for Ciaran, Orlaith, Kathleen, Niall, Debbie, Alana, Robbie and all the extended Staunton/O’Dowd family. And we pray for Rory who is now one of God’s angels.

“Then the child opened its eyes and looked up into the angel's beautiful face, which beamed with happiness and at the same moment they were in heaven where joy and bliss reigned. The child received wings like the other angel and they flew about together hand in hand.”

-- Hans Christian Andersen

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Nster.com