Memorials to Christian

Our personal memorial:

Christian was laid to rest in the Cemetary in Greenville, Ohio. Many of  the relatives on Beverlys side of the family are resting here. Christians resting place is located in the new section, just down the hill from the Main section. If you're ever in Greenville, Ohio, please stop by and spend a moment.

Here you can see the windsock from the front porch that he liked to watch, and the wind-spinner. The white cross with Christians name on it was made by his dad  - the name was written on it by his brother and the violets were added by his mommy. This shows his resting place right after the ceremony showing the shepherds hook holding the basket of flowers, the winsock and the wind-spinner.

Here is the site at the beginning of the Fall season. The rectangular object in the upper part of the photo is the newly-poured base for the monument. The shephards hook now has fall leaves wrapped around it, spider-webbing on it and stretching to and over the cross and wind-spinnner, and a little ghost handing from below the flower basket. Each of us put a jack-o-lantern at the bottom of the cross. One of Christians favorite seasons was Halloween - he so enjoyed seeing the scary decorations and costumes, and especially getting all that candy...

Well, after about ten months, we finally have the monument placed. It took that long since we wanted a monument especially for Christian. After months of looking, we finally found the right marble that we were looking for. We then wanted it specially created and engraved. This shows the front of the stone. On the right is a special statue of an angel that we found, his mommy treated and we then had installed. Looking at it reminded us so much of Christian and that he's now our angel in Heaven. The lettering on the stone reads "Beloved Son and Brother", Christain Michael Copits, June 18, 1983 - Dec. 26, 1996. We wanted to make sure that the stone was exactly as we wanted it before it was placed.

Here you can see the wind-spinner, the angel statue and the two jack-o-lanterns that we placed on his stone for Halloween. The object on the statue is a necklace that spelled out his name.

Here is the back of Christians memorial. The scroll reads "Suffer the Little Children to come unto me, fur such is the Kingdom of God". The bottom quote reads "If love could have cured you, you would never have died".

Christian's School

Christian was in a class for the handicapped at the Morton Middle School in Vandalia, Ohio. The class was not large,  but all of Christains classmates really felt close to Christian. The other regular students in the school would take turns "mentoring" the handicapped students and helping them around the school. It seemed that a lot of the students would particularly enjoy being Christians guide and friend.

After Christian passed away  - the day after Christmas, his classmates and other friends in school were deeply distressed by his passing. For the first time ever, they took up collections, had bake sales, etc. to earn enough money to make a tribute to their departed classmate. They finally had enough to purchase a very nice Christmas tree that they planted in his honor.

The day it was planted, all of the school took time from their day to honor him. A large crowd of his friends and classmates was present, as well as teachers and his mommy and daddy. Even the local Television station, Channel 7 was there filming the ceremony. It was on the evening news that evening.

The original plastic marker was destroyed in an accident. This is the marker that his Mommy and Daddy purchased to replace it. The inscription on it is exactly what was on the original marker that his school friends placed there.

Here's the marker with the tree. It's a very beautiful tree. Many times we've driven by and seen how the birds and butterflies like to visit it. 

Here's another view of the tree. At Christmastime, we'd decorate it with Christmas bows, ornaments, etc. The children of the school would decorate it also with popcorn strings, decorations, etc. Christain so loved Christmas - the Church services, the big dinners, the candy and presents. It was the day after Christmas when Christain passed away. We are sure that he really enjoyed his last Christmas, with his Teddy Bear, musical presents, etc.

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