Families, friends and loved ones gathered at the Edgartown Lighthouse Saturday for the annual children’s memorial.

On the Vineyard a sense of healing envelops you. The place that embodies this spirit most of all is the Edgartown Lighthouse Children’s Memorial.

The Ceremony of Remembrance takes place at the Edgartown Lighthouse and begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22.

The 16th annual Ceremony of Remembrance was held Saturday at the Edgartown Lighthouse.

Children decorated the cobblestones at the base of the Edgartown lighthouse with slipper shells as more than 100 people gathered for the 15th annual Ceremony of Remembrancel.

For the loved ones who gathered at the annual Ceremony of Remembrance on Saturday afternoon, their stories may have differed but their pain was the same — the grief of losing a child.

Parents and children gathered at the Edgartown Lighthouse for the 13th annual Ceremony of Remembrance. At the base of the lighthouse, granite stones are engraved with the names of children who have died.

The Children’s Memorial at the Edgartown Lighthouse was dedicated in 2001, with cobblestones under the lighthouse engraved with the names of children of all ages who had died.

On Saturday afternoon, under bright blue skies, Norma Mendoza posed for a picture next to the Edgartown Lighthouse. At her feet lay a gray stone inscribed with the names Rosaura and Rafael Freire Mendoza surrounded by flowers and small white Precious Moments figurines.

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.