| Sources |
- [S23] Atchley Funeral Home, (http://www.atchleyfuneralhome.com/), 3 May 2009.
Mathew Gentry McPeek obituary
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 7 Jun 2009.
Removing items from memorial upsets mother of accident victim
Editor:
I am the mother of Mathew Gentry McPeek, the young boy who died in the car crash on Allensville Road on May 2. I would like to say thank you to the community, family and friends for all the support, prayers and kindness during this difficult time.
Now I would like to talk to you as a community about the cross that was made for Mathew by his friends. They put a lot of love, time and compassion into making this cross in memory of Mathew and put it up at the crash site. The owners of the property told us it would be OK to put the cross up, so we did just that on Monday, May 25. It looked amazing. It was a great honor to Mathew and to me and his father for the cross to be there, and also by it being there people would see it and know what happened and it may have very well slowed speeders down and saved a life.
It was an honor for the cross to be there in many ways, but most of all it was there in memory of my son. The cross was put up on May 25 and by the next day it was gone. Someone had taken it, and by doing so they disrespected my son, his family and his friends. We were all devastated that someone could do such a thing.
At first we did not know who had done such a disrespectful thing. Several days passed and we were left to wonder where the cross was and who had took it, but on Thursday, May 28, we found out where the cross was and who had taken it. We were glad to know where it was and to get it back, but very hurt that it was taken up. Not only did they take the cross up but they also took angels that were placed there and threw them away. Then it was said that nothing else would be put there no matter what the reason was or who it was in memory of, because the sight of it made them sick.
It wasn't bad enough that we lost our son, but now we can't even place a cross at the site in memory of him. It is very heartbreaking to know that people in our community could be so disrespectful and heartless about this.
To those people (and God knows who you are all) we will be praying for you all.
Phyllis Gentry
Chattanooga
|
Search | Advanced Search
