Most parents look forward to their child's first Christmas (or other major holiday) with glee, eager to show them all the wonderful family traditions and to start new ones in the years to come.
But parents Erin and Kaine Morrison never got that chance.
Their son, Caesar, died in March at the age of only 13 weeks due to heart complications. Needless to say, the couple was devastated.
But as the year wore on, Erin Morrison was upset by the idea that Caesar would never get to meet Santa Claus, and so she decided to celebrate what would have been his first Christmas in her own way.
Santa is a huge part of Christmas for parents and young children, and for more than just presents. For many, he's a symbol of kindness, generosity, and hope, showing that with a little warmth, small miracles can happen even in the darkest of times.
She collected some of Caesar's favorite things and a photo of him and went to meet Santa, then got the whole thing on camera so that she could have a memory of Caesar's first Christmas.
She had a few photos taken, and by the end of it, there wasn't a dry eye on the scene, including Santa himself.
[H/T: Daily Mail]
In one of the most heartbreaking photos, Erin Morrison took this photo of Santa holding a picture of her son, Caesar, who passed away in March at 3 months old.
This would have been his first Christmas.
Caesar Morrison was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which means that the left side of his heart never developed properly.
The Morrisons, Erin and Kaine, knew this from her 23rd week of pregnancy.
They were told that he would need multiple operations, but he seemed to be doing well.
"Every time he caught an infection or something wasn't quite right, he always pulled through," Erin said.
But after his second major heart surgery, things took a turn for the worse.
He lost oxygen to his brain, and then doctors had to battle against a kidney infection and a blood clot in his lungs.
Two days after that, Caesar had a stroke, and there was nothing anyone could do.
His parents opted to switch off his life support. "I so desperately did not want to do it," Erin said, "but I knew it was selfish. He'd gone through so much."
Caesar was 13 weeks old.
"After he'd gone to heaven, though, life was tough," Erin said.
"We missed his cheeky personality and his smell. While he's been alive, we'd created so many memories. Without him, I was lost, and so was Kaine."
And the thought of spending Christmas without him was too much to bear.
"It didn't seem fair that he was missing out on so much, including his first Christmas," Erin said. "So I decided that he shouldn't miss out.
"All my friends were busy taking their kids to meet Santa and it struck me as something I'd like to do for my boy, too."
So she took his favorite pacifier, blanket, and teddy bear, along with a set of handprints from the hospital, and arranged them around Santa for a photo.
Caesar's aunts and cousin also brought a photo of the baby with them on their Santa visit after they saw Erin's photo, so the whole family could be together.
"Everyone cried, including Santa," Erin remembered, "and parents came up to us to say thank you for doing that for him."
The photos are bittersweet to be sure, and some have called it unusual (because there are always critics), but for Erin and Kaine, the photos are helping them during their time of mourning.
"Some people have told us it's a bit unusual but we think it's beautiful," she says. "It's really helped us to know Caesar isn't missing out on his first Christmas just because he's in heaven."
And now the Morrisons have one more memory of their beloved son to keep with them.
"Nothing will bring back our baby boy, but at least we could give him his first Christmas and have a memory we can treasure forever," Erin said.
It's a heartbreaking story, but it's also one about celebrating a little boy's life and making sure he's always part of the family.
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