Honoring Those Who Have Passed Away
Muriel Deegan stands quietly, looking at a small ceramic tile containing the name of her daughter, Anya Leah Pete, and the date she passed away before glancing down the wall to a nearby section of wall with several newly installed tiles, including one that has the name of her granddaughter, Lyla Pete, who passed away in May of this year. “The kids played ball here,” Deegan said, taking a glance at the baseball field located several yards away from the Angel of Hope, Children’s Memorial Park in Virginia on Friday evening.
Deegan and her family were at the park Friday evening to see Lyla’s tile be installed on the wall by a volunteer mason and to join other families for a program honoring the memories of children who have passed away. “ We have come here every year since 2019, when Anya passed away. It’s peaceful, and we feel closer.”
Angel of Hope Parks, including the park near the shore of Silver Lake in Virginia, are serene, dedicated memorial spaces designed to provide comfort, healing, and a physical gathering place for parents and families who have experienced the death of a child. The idea originates from “The Christmas Box, a bestselling 1993 novel by Richard Paul Evans. In the book, a fictional grieving mother mours her child at the base of an angel monument. After the book was published, grieving parents began searching for a real-world counterpart to visit for solace. The author commissioned a bronze statue, which was dedicated on December 6, 1994, in Salt Lake City, and the parks grew in communities across the country. Each December 6, candlelight memorial services are held in more than 100 parks across the country.
Each park’s focal point is a bronze statue of an angel with outstretched wings gazing upward. A hidden detail embedded in the design is the word “Hope” carved into the right wing. In Virginia, a wall containing tiles with the names of children who have passed away is a prominent feature.
While December 6 is the traditional day for families to gather at the park, organizers decided to hold a less formal, warm-weather service and chose Friday evening to coincide with the annual installation of new tiles. Families gathered to quietly remember, find comfort with others, and recite the names of their loved ones while placing flowers at the base of the Angel of Hope statue.
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