LISA Rowley well knows the pain of losing a baby daughter, and already the family has made its mark at Woronora Cemetery.
Her baby Jaslyn, who died at 14 months, was the first internment in one of the children's burial areas, Karinya, 10 years ago.
Now the Rowley family have become some of the first people to place mementoes on one of the cemetery's inaugural Christmas trees.
There was no hesitation about what the family chose to mark Jaslyn's short life — dragonflies and butterflies.
"Around the time Jassy passed away I saw dragonflies everywhere I went," Ms Rowley said.
"Then at the funeral we had pink and purple balloons — her favourite colours. When they went into the air they formed the shape of a butterfly — it was just amazing."
Jaslyn died after developing a brain tumour, having surgery and chemotherapy before developing a fatal second tumour.
"You learn to live with the pain and every day you live you know you are another day closer to her," Ms Rowley said.
Today, Ms Rowley of Wattle Grove with her husband Ross is the parent of Jay, 8, and Harrison, 6.
The mother is happy to have taken on the role of ambassador for the Christmas tree project.
Christmas trees have been placed in each of the three children's burial areas with families and friends invited to place a personal decoration on a tree in memory of their child at any time during the cemetery's opening hours.
The cemetery will remove remaining decorations on Tuesday, January 6.
People are encouraged to remove their decorations before that date.
How do you reconcile a happy Christmas with an unhappy event?
