Cookeville, Tenn. – This spring, The Cookeville Regional Charitable Foundation will be installing an “Angel Garden” in the Cookeville City Cemetery. The Angel Garden will be a place to honor, remember and grieve children who pass away in the early stages of life.
“It is difficult to imagine, but a few times each year the remains of premature, stillborn or even short lived infants are not claimed by their parents and become the responsibility of Cookeville Regional Medical Center to care for. The reasons for this are varied and emotional for everyone
involved. Sometimes families simply cannot afford burial, other times they struggle to process the emotions of having lost a child. Whatever the reason, we would like to honor the brief lives of these children with a permanent resting place located in Cookeville City Cemetery” said John Bell, Director of Cookeville Regional Charitable Foundation.
Currently one-third of the funds needed for the communal headstone have been secured. The large stone will feature a central angelic mother figure, flanked by two seated cherubs. The epitaph will read:
“Here we rest. The hands not held, the silenced cries, the dreams unfulfilled. Though our lives were brief, love eternal is given us not for great deeds or the number of our days, but just by being. We were here. Living creatures. Children. We were a part of this world and dwell now in
the hearts of those we left behind. For our mothers, fathers and families who must hold hope within and walk through this life without us; we ask for peace, comfort and strength. Here we rest, together, and peacefully wait for a reunion beyond pain, fear and doubt; in the world that is to come.” –The Children of the Angel Garden
Donations are being collected now toward the completion of the Angel Garden. Several thousand dollars are needed to complete the headstone. Thanks to the generosity of local funeral homes; and the donation of caskets by craftsman Don Anderson and the Cookeville Kiwanis Club, the ongoing expense of burial will only be roughly $125 per use. Checks may be sent to CRMC Foundation, 1 Medical Center Blvd, Cookeville TN 38501. Please note Angel Garden. Learn more or give online by visiting www.CookevilleRegionalCharity.org