It rained in Vineyard Haven and in Oak Bluffs on Saturday. But in Edgartown the skies held out for a 1 p.m. service at the Edgartown Lighthouse. More than 60 people came together at the foot of the beacon, under dark and threatening skies for the Children’s Memorial, a remembrance. They came to hear stories, music and commemorate a lost child in their lives.
Like many other parents at the Ceremony of Remembrance on Saturday, Kathy Fortini stood around a stone bearing the name of her own child. She stared out into the ocean and said, “This place is perfect — it’s how he’d be looking out.”
Each stone at the Edgartown Lighthouse Children’s Memorial tells a story of a child’s life cut too short. This eighth annual ceremony honored all of the Vineyard children who have died; some Islanders, some frequent visitors.