When my mother was killed on EA Flight 990 I was in denial. She must have made it off the plane is what my mind kept telling me. We didn’t have a body so she must still be alive somewhere. I started having terrible dreams so I ï¬nally sought counseling. The lady had one great idea that has really seemed to help me. She suggested making some kind of a memorial and maybe burying something that could represent my mother. I thought about that all the way home. My husband jumped right on this idea and together this is what we did.
We made a mold and poured in concrete. I got some big wood letters to put at the top that say MOM and painted them bright purple. Then we bought metal house numbers and put them below MOM that had her birth date 09-21-34 and her death date 10-31-99. We put all of this in while the concrete was still wet. Before we placed it where we were going to, I had bought an angel that we buried and put our makeshift headstone flat on the ground. I put a little 3″ tall picket fence around the whole memorial and planted rhodies and other flowers all inside. For Christmas my daughter had bought me a girl angel garden statue reading her bible sitting on a pedestal so we placed her at the foot of the concrete. I go out there frequently and talk to mom. It helps me a lot. I hope if you decide to do something like this, it will help you too!
Shari Gemmill, WA, lost her mother Barbara Freeman, 65, aboard Egypt Air 990, Nantucket, MA, October 31, 1999
