By Grace Flinn

The holiday season is hard for bereaved families who have lost a child of their own. Holidays are about spending time with loved ones and being grateful, but when one has lost a member of the family, holidays are not easy when they are constantly reminded a loved one is gone.

According to stowsentry.com, Sara Ruble started the Christmas Box Angle of Hope Children’s Memorial located in the Silver Springs Cemetery. Ruble started when she mourned the loss of her only child, Scott Michael Jessie of 19 years who passed in May of 1994.

To help Ruble’s grieving process she decided to start a support group for all bereaved families who have lost their child. Doing so, this helped Ruble interact with other families who are going through the same thing as her. She gathered parents whom have lost a big part of their life, and raised 46,000 dollars to start off in 2000. Seven months later, the group increased successfully, and the memorial was finally dedicated in 2001.

The Christmas Box Angel Of Hope was based on a story called “The Christmas Box” by Richard Paul Evans. The story was about a mother who lost her child and was in great grief. Evans created the first Christmas Box Angel of Hope in Salt Lake City, and Ruble was inspired by this story and by Evan’s great idea, so she decided to start the program Christmas Box Angle of Hope here in Stow.

In the Silver Springs Cemetery, the Angle of Hope watches over the 600 engraved bricks of children’s names who lost their lives. Each year, there ire approximately 30 to 35 bricks added to the memorial each year. There is a candle lighting ceremony the second week of every December for the family and friends to have a time of remembrance.

According to stowsentry.com, after Ruble has been in charge of this program for fifteen years, Tim Thies, the father of a child who lost his life, will soon take over.