Mother turns unimaginable heartbreak into helping others
LINDSAY, Okla. (KFOR) – KFOR’s Remarkable Women of Oklahoma annual campaign is back! Our newsroom was flooded with nominations of beautiful stories of women from all across Oklahoma. A committee had the difficult task of whittling down the very long list to four finalists. Each Tuesday during the month of March, we will bring you the stories of our 2024 nominees. The following story introduces you to Amelia Harrison: a mother who has turned her unimaginable heartbreak into helping others.
“We’ve gone to Yellowstone, and the Grand Tetons, and the Grand Canyon.” Photos of their adventures cover Amelia Harrison’s walls, with her husband Tyler, and sons Liam and Lane.
“We just love being outdoors in nature, that’s where I feel closest to God,” she said.
But during a family vacation to Colorado in 2021, a life-shattering tragedy struck while swimming in pools of hot springs.
“Larger than life,” she described her eldest son. Liam, her larger than life little boy, drowned one month shy of his sixth birthday.
“I think in the beginning I was angry, and I still get angry. But I was also just… I felt lost,” she said.
Amelia dealt with every stage of grief, while learning how to do the hardest thing for any parent – to speak of their child in past tense. “Liam was a very kind soul,” she said.
From her home in Lindsay, Oklahoma, the former high school English teacher began to write.
“I hate that I know what I know,” she read aloud. Before long, Amelia had written a guidebook. Just Show Up: Inspiring Hope and Encouraging Healing outlines how to care for others going through the loss of a loved one.
“Even in death, loss and suffering, there is still good. Not for my purpose, but for God’s,” Amelia said, reading a page from her book. “And as much as I don’t understand why Liam died at such a young age, I do know that this knowledge was meant for a greater purpose.”
Amelia also coordinated a grief retreat last year, with another retreat planned this summer.
“It takes work, but it does get better,” she said.
In addition, Amelia created Liam’s Light Foundation to give hope to those battling grief’s many layers.
“This was his favorite toy,” Amelia said, holding Liam’s lightsaber. A tattoo on her arm depicts his lightsaber, Liam’s name in his own handwriting, and a sunflower, Liam’s favorite flower.
“He’s a part of everything that we do,” she said.
Liam has since gained another baby brother. Landry just turned one-year-old.
His mother also created a garden for Liam – a therapeutic place for Amelia to rest and listen to the wind, just as a garden stone reads. “It says, ‘Listen to the wind and know that I am near,'” she said.
Amelia leans on biblical scriptures to find healing. “John 1:5 says, ‘There is light in the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it.'”
And a priceless treasure she holds dear is a video of Liam himself. “God always keeps his promises,” Liam said, smiling.
Liam was a remarkable son – with a remarkable mother.
For more information about Amelia’s upcoming summer grief retreat, click here to contact Liam’s Light Foundation.
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