The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting unites family and friends around the globe in lighting candles for one hour to honor the memories of our children who have died. As candles are lit at 7 p.m. on Dec. 11, hundreds of thousands of people commemorate and honor the memory of all children gone too soon.

Now believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, the 20th annual Worldwide Candle Lighting, creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone. TCF’s WWCL started in the United States in 1997 as a small internet observance, but has since swelled in numbers as word has spread throughout the world of the remembrance. Hundreds of formal candle lighting events are held and thousands of informal candle lightings are conducted in homes as families gather in quiet remembrance of children who have died, but will never be forgotten.

The local chapter of The Compassionate Friends will be holding a Candle Lighting at 6:45 at the Windermere office at 50 Spring Street in Friday Harbor. There will be a program and speaker and candles. There will also be a time for sharing. People are encouraged to bring photos and other remembrances of their children.