(2008) Another Christmas Without My Catherine

I couldn't let another Christmas go by and see Catherine's grave without a headstone.

A lot of time and planning went it to it, to have it done exactly as I wanted it for her. And also to be sure that all the family would be happy with it, and that Catherine herself would approve.

The heart shape symbolises our love for her, and the huge heart of gold that she had; the butterfly symbolises her wish to "come back" as a butterfly; and the book symbolises her love and talent for writing.

(I tried to take the picture as straight as possible, but had to take it from an angle in my attempt to include as much of the Christmas items as I could - that's why it looks slightly off-level.)

The grave itself could do with a complete "makeover" but unfortunately I've been unable to do very much for the last 4 months or so due to a broken ankle, which still hasn't healed. Hopefully, by the time summer comes along, I should have it looking much better than this. Winter is not the best time to tackle these things - even without a broken ankle.

There would normally be a lot more christmas gifts, flowers and ornaments but because the headstone had just been put in, the surrounding area was disturbed and messed up. Catherine's grave is usually a blaze of colour all year round.

Her headstone was ready just in time for Christmas.

Where My Daughter Was Killed By Drunk & Speeding Jason Burke

Catherine's memorial plaque is mounted on the outside wall of a farm outhouse, just above the wall that the van she was a front seat passenger in, crashed. Catherine took the full impact of that crash. If the stone wall hadn't been there, but just the ditch then she might have had some chance of survival.
Even then, the length of time it would've taken the emergency services to get to the scene of the crash and back to the hospital would've hindered their attempts to save her.

The emergency services had to travel 18 miles to the crash scene and 18 miles back to the hospital - an awful long time in an emergency. My poor child didn't stand a chance.

The leader and members of the Youth Group that Catherine belonged to organised a fundraiser in our community by launching a CD that two of her friends had made in her memory. The song is called Memories of You, and was written and sung by them. The money they raised by the sale of their song helped towards the cost of the plaque. It was a wonderful gesture from her friends, and by doing this they showed their love and loyalty to Catherine.

It made me so very proud.