Honoring Our Teen Kaelan A. Palmer Paton's Life and Lessons Learned Along The Way

(This is from a January 2, 2020 issue of The Lakeville Journal of CT, by Catherine Palmer Paton, Kaelan's Mom)

Many people are connecting to make a difference and gain ground to save forums online and in print journalism, nonprofits to serve spiritual, cultural, educational and many other needs and services. I would like to share some verses that I have posted over the years.

I hope to list more of them on livfully.org soon and welcome input for ideas to share on that forum. Hats off to all online and print publications, groups and gatherings seeking to create meaningful, uplifting community in 2020 and for decades to come!

I am sharing this also to reflect on the the wonderful life of our late teen son and local hero, Kaelan Palmer Paton.  His mortal life, as for most of us, began nine months prior to his birth. He was born at home in Sharon on Jan. 6, 1993, just after midnight, and passed on June 16, 2009, after saving two friends and attempting to rescue a third at the Falls of the Housatonic River in Connecticut.

That friend was saved by a skilled volunteer Skip Kosciusko (who speaks eloquently as do many in their sharing on the youtube of Kaelan’s Memorial Service about the difficult events of that time.)

Kaelan lived a remarkable life and was much loved as part of an extensive family, friend and community network of local schools, faith groups, folk festivals, athletic teams and endeavors. His legacy has much more to offer our world as we have time to reflect on matters related to growing up in America, taking more safety precautions around monitoring activities (including preventing dangerous outings and offering more support at all stages of life for people, families and groups in general.)

Thanks for thinking of the lessons we can learn to improve the future for US All. The Acorns to Oaks Team Outreach (A-2020) is an outreach I have done informally for a few decades and will develop in a timely manner to create more networks and promote advocacy on many fronts. I welcome input and support in all of these endeavors and appreciate what everybuddy is doing along these lines.

Happy trails for more success with safety, learning and living well with kindness and respect!

Thanks for being a ConnectI-Can in the Connecticut River Valleys and beyond.

 

Community Teamwork

Rising Intelligently to Validate Each Other Respectfully

Vessels Aglow with Light and Love Encouraging You

To Share and Care.