For some it’s time for sorrow

By Shaun Inguanzo
CHRISTMAS is a difficult time for Narre Warren’s Rhonda Mavromatis and family.
Ms Mavromatis’ son Jack William Martin died three years ago. He was just 15 months old.
But last weekend Ms Mavromatis and her family found some respite from the heartache by attending the Children’s Christmas Remembrance Service at Springvale’s Botanical Cemetery.
The cemetery’s CEO Russ Allison said the ceremony was a response to the large number of parents, siblings and grand parents visiting the grounds every year in the lead up to the festive season.
“Funeral directors WD Rose approached us and said we should do something special for all of the families,” he said.
The first ceremony was last year with 150 people – but that number was smashed by an attendance of 400 people to this year’s ceremony.
Ms Mavromatis said the purpose of attending the ceremony was not only to remember her son but also to realise there were others experiencing similar grief at Christmas.
“It is such a hard time and every special day is difficult without him,” she said.
“Being here allows you to see that others are going though the same situation.”
The pain of losing triplets while on the IVF program still rang true for Rowville’s Fiona Molloy, who along with other parents placed a card on a communal Christmas tree and lit a lantern in memory of her miscarried children.
“I lost the triplets in April 2000.
“Then my husband left me on the day they were due to be born. The pain was indescribable.”
But Ms Molloy conceived naturally two years later to another partner and said she was blessed with her daughter, Mackenzie, now two years old.
Springvale Botanical Cemetery receives up to 50 children each year, Mr Allison said, many of them no more than four or five years old.
“All of these people here have lost a baby or a child,” he said.
To give families an all-year-round method of remembering their children, Mr Allison said the cemetery purchased the naming rights to a star from the International Star Registry and called it Eternal Light.
The evening concluded with a short but sharp fireworks display, followed by supper.