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Love Never Ends LbNA #51681

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Nov 27, 2009
Location:
City:Lafayette
County:Tippecanoe
State:Indiana
Boxes:1
Planted by:Joe Boxer
Found by: photopam
Last found:Jul 9, 2015
Status:FFFFa
Last edited:Nov 27, 2009
Many years ago, my first wife and I were wanting to start a family. Of course, everything is supposed to follow the same story line. The couple falls in love, gets married, has kids, raises them, and then eventually the kids get married and start the process all over. What no one told me was that life doesn't always go the way that we think it should.

We became pregnant in 1987 and found that my wife was nearly 3 months along. We began buying the baby stuff, deciding on names, and announcing it to anyone who would listen. Unfortunately the pregnancy was ectopic and my wife nearly died. The doctor had never seen an ectopic pregancy so far along. Our child was surgically removed to save my wife's life.

We were devestated but kept trying. In 1989, we were ecstatic to discover that again we were pregnant. And again, the pregnancy was ectopic. This time, the pregnancy was not so far along and it was terminated through the use of medicines that are used in chemotherapy. In essence, the embryo was dissoved by the drugs over a period of several days while my wife was sickened by them. For both of us, it was a terrible time; we felt like we were killing our child but knew that a tubal pregnancy would result in termination anyhow.

We eventually stopped trying for a biological child and adopted a newborn son who is now 17 years old. We loved him just the same. Sadly, when he was 10 years old, my first wife died unexpectedly.

I have since remarried to a wonderful woman, Rnfrog, and have added two step-children to the family. I love them all and feel like God has blessed me. So why am I telling you this and planting this letterbox? I will try to explain in my clues that follow.

In Lafayette, Indiana, just off of I-65 at State Road 25, there are two cemeteries as you drive toward town (don't drive toward Delphi- that is the wrong way). The Catholic cemetery, St. Boniface, is located on the east (left) side of the road. If you enter the cemetery and immediately turn left and go straignt to the last curve, you will notice a large stone close to the busy highway in the northwest corner. The stone is dedicated to unborn children who never survived to be born or who died soon after birth. Scattered around the big stone are many crosses with names, toys, stuffed animals, and notes. Clearly, those who had left these things had lost an unborn child and still loved the child, even many years later. They were grieving for someone they might never have even seen.

In your own letterbox searches in cemeteries, have you noticed that many times there are gravestones from the 1970s, 1950s, and even earlier that still have fresh flowers and love notes from their parents? Even if the child lived for only a few days? I've seen this at every cemetery in many different states.

As you face the large stone, turn 180 degrees and walk straight toward the back of the cemetery. On the left side of the gravel road, you may notice two stones close together and well-kept. They are the graves of two identical sisters, Carrie and Sandy, who both died at young ages. As I was looking for a place to plant my letterbox, their parents were there raking leaves of the graves and setting up a small Christmas tree. We spoke for a while and they talked about their daughters.

As you continue to head to the back of the cemetery, you will make it the St. Lawrence Section. Go to the final row and turn right. Look for the gravestone of James Riehle (pronounced "really") and his wife, Teedee. He was mayor of Lafayette for over 20 years and both he and his wife died in the past few years. I knew him and was surprised at how genuinely concerned he was for the people in his city. Sincerity is not something I usually associate with politicians!

Look directly beyond his grave to the treeline. Find the tree that has two trunks. One trunk is dead and shorter than the other. Between the two trunks, you will find a stamp that sums it all up, at least to me.

I still love the two unborn children who are my only biological children. As I looked at the other gravestones, I noticed that the length of everyone's life is different. Some are very short and some are very long. Yet the one thing that stays the same is the love that exists in each life. I know that some people are given much more love in their lives than others. I am one of those people. In spite of my losses, I am heavily blessed with a wife and children and family that I love deeply. Long past our lifetimes, nothing can take this away.