Rachel
by Elissa Davey
We often receive inquiries about the statue of the young woman in our
garden.
Rachel came to us because she, too, was abandoned. She had been ordered
for an organization that never claimed her. When Garden of Innocence
came to El Camino Cemetery, she was offered to us. For the other group
she was to be the angel of lost children. For us, Rachel is the angel
of loved children.
The first order of business was to find just the right place to put
Rachel. One of our Directors, Kelly, was recruited to be Rachel while
the rest of the committee had her move around and pose so that we could
decide exactly where to put her.
As Kelly was posing, and unknown to her, there was a coyote right
behind her! We tried to rush her posing so we could decide on the
location and get out of there. It's funny now, but at the time we were
a little concerned.
The spot we chose is where Rachel sits now and -- though we did not
know it - when we buried our first baby, Adam, we discovered that
Rachel's eyes look directly at his headstone. This was heartwarming and
affirmed that she had found her true home with us.
Rachel was removed from the garden only once when they were getting
ready to place the stone that she sits upon. The stone is engraved
with the names of the cremated babies in the garden.
Waiting for the stone to arrive Rachel was placed in a dark shed for a
few months. One day, Earl, the head groundskeeper at El Camino came to
Rebecca Melendez, our cemetery liaison and a Garden of Innocence
director. He told her that Rachel was crying.
Rebecca asked him what he meant by that and he said that Rachel had
tears going down her face. Rebecca was sure that Rachel missed her
babies so she asked Earl to return her to the garden. So Earl took her
back to the garden and placed her in the mud. He never saw a tear
again!
From the day Garden of Innocence opened Earl continues to make sure the
garden is well cared for and that the babies have a beautiful place to
rest. Each year the garden grows and Rachel is there to protect and
watch over her babies. We always remember and thank El Camino for
donating her to us.
Please come to Garden of Innocence and spend some time visiting with
Rachel and her babies. Amazing and wonderful things happen there.
Watch for the little signs like rabbits, butterflies, birds, deer and
falling leaves when there is no wind.
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