"Amy," Carolyn says, "had always enjoyed being around people, didn't like to be alone. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of placing a cross where she died. The only thing that troubled me was the idea of her being out there by herself."
Friends in the support group understood. Vernon Price asked if she would mind if he placed a cross in memory of his son next to the one Greg Price (no relation) was building for Amy. In short order, others embraced the idea. Originally then, Amy's cross was joined by four others: Vern Price, a stabbing victim; Bobbie Kafka, a victim of domestic violence; Marty Klozik, the victim of an argument over a debt; and Chad Houston, murdered during an altercation outside a neighborhood pool hall.
"It was nothing formal or fancy," Carolyn said, "just a place we could go and remember our kids." In time, 27 crosses were placed among the weeds. It was Barbara Salter who first suggested they call the spot "Our Garden of Angels."
In November 2000, construction began on an extension of Trinity Boulevard, and in its course was the state-owned land where the crosses had been placed. Randy Miller, CEO of the Fort Worth-based A&A Construction company that was a participant in the new road construction, was long aware of the current memorial. "So, it concerned me when I realized that the new road would cut through the memorial. I went to my partners and suggested that we donate a portion of a little pie-shaped piece of land we owned nearby."
Receiving eager approval from the families who had erected crosses, Miller took his plans further. He contacted an architect friend to ask if he would design a memorial park on the site where the crosses would be moved. "Everyone just came together to make it a reality," Miller says. Today, he takes his wife and children out to view the memorial, which he insists is still not finished. He has plans to erect a donated flagpole, install an irrigation system, and perhaps even pave a parking lot for visitors. "I'm not a particularly religious person," he says, "but I see this as a sacred place."
Ray Stewart says that Randy has become the driving force behind the garden.
On Febuary 23, 1999, the new "Our Garden of Angels" was formally dedicated.
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