Nobody ever claimed the infant girl, who was found dead of abdominal injuries near Norfolk's Campostella neighborhood nearly two years ago by a man who at first didn't trust his eyes.
The baby was ferried to her grave in Roosevelt Memorial Park in Chesapeake on Thursday morning in a Cadillac hearse. Her casket was tiny, white, immaculate. Tulips marked the grave of the child, named "Baby Grace" by police. Nearly 30 people stood at her grave site to pay tribute.
So wrote Matthew Roy in The Virginian Pilot this morning. I remember when "Baby Grace" was found two years ago. There was an intense search for her mother - or anyone who may have known her. No one was ever found.
This article hit me harder than I expected. Maybe it's because I have children of my own, and by now they have children also. Maybe it's because we attended a funeral with a tiny casket for my oldest son's first daughter. Or, maybe it's just the inhumanity . . .
I don't know the mother's situation. Maybe she's in her own personal hell. We're told not to judge. But, in this situation, I can't help it. I can only hope that Grace's mother read the Pilot this morning, and somehow summons the courage to come forward. If not, may her personal hell continue, and eventually become eternal.
The coffin had a teddy bear carved in the top.
I cried . . .
3 comments:
I agree with all you say until the final paragraph, I remember it too, a terrible, sad situation, one that should never, ever arise but maybe because I don't have children I have to disagree on your final point. Her personal hell maybe something I can't imagine or concieve of, that by no means excuses the sitution but until I know the circumstances I can't judge or wish for her never to find some kind of peace.
I don't understand people who would do this. In Nebraska, they are just now getting to the "Safe Haven" law, where if a mother does not wish to keep her baby, she can drop it off at a local hospital or firestation and walk away without being charged with a crime. I think it's unfortunate that life comes to dropping a child off.. or when it comes down to saying a child is unwanted. It happens, obviously, so I think perhaps the Safe Haven law would help to alleviate certain types of situations.
Do you have something like that there?
I have a hard time not judging things like this, too. :(
Gem,
I made the comment because she needs to contribute to finding her own peace. It's unreasonable for her to dodge it forever, or expect someone else to shoulder the burden. However, I can understand your point.
Lisa,
Yes, we have had a safe haven law in Virginia since 2003. However, it's limited to an age of 14 days or less. I don't know how old baby Grace was.
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