On Friday evening, December 6th, I slowly strolled from the parking lot of the New Life Community Church and headed over to the Marco Island Cemetery. I was there to cover the solemn event, which is held on December 6th each year – the gathering to remember the loss of a child at the Christmas Box Angel of Hope Memorial.
As I made that walk from the church to the cemetery I couldn’t help but think of the irony of the evening as the laughter and joy of children playing spilled out from Veterans Community Park only a short distance away.
The Christmas Box Angel comes from a book by Richard Paul Evans, The Christmas Box. It is the story of a woman mourning the loss of her child. The Angel monument is 4’3” tall with a wingspan of 5’2” and has the word “Hope” inscribed on her right wing.
Through the efforts of local community members, Marco Island received its own monument and dedicated it on December 6, 2020.
Well over 70 attendees gathered together on this chilly December evening. They were welcomed to the event by Reverend Thomas McCulley as he gave an opening prayer. The ceremony was then led by Ed Beck and included reading the names of those children who had passed. As attendees laid flowers down at the foot of the statue, they consoled each other as so many others were doing nationwide.
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