Email from Hodges

So I emailed the cemetary manager that I wrote about in the previous post. This is what I said:

Hello,

I read about the infant memorial garden in the Vancouver Courier and I was very moved. What a wonderful gift you have given to so many people.

The article made me think. Why do we not have any memorials to commemorate the loss of miscarried babies? I know that in Japan they have Jizo statues that are thought to watch over the mizuko, or souls of stillborn, aborted and miscarried babies. The West doesn’t really have any recognized ceremony or tradition to honor these lost ones. I’m sure that many women who have miscarried would appreciate having a space at the cemetery devoted to ‘mizuko’. I know that I would.

Has there been any thought given to this idea? I’m not sure what form it would take. Perhaps the dry river bed memorial could be extended for a section for people to commemorate their miscarried babies. Or something else nearby? A fountain?

Thank you for taking the time to consider this request.

Sincerely,

Chantelle
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And this is what he replied on a Friday afternoon, soon after I emailed him:

Thank you for the email. There are a number of other infant projects that we are considering. Our first task was to provide an opportunity for the thousands of infants buried here to be commemorated. It has taken us many decades to address this situation. I do not have a date or time frame for the type of memorial you suggest but I would like to do something like that. It will not take decades to complete but it may take a few years. We still have two more existing infant areas to address.

I will add your email address to our notification list and when such a place is developed we will try to contact you.
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I am so inspired by this man.