Today Claudia would be 20 years old, and in her third year of college - if she chose that route.  I can only imagine the possibilities!!!  But yes, only imagine.  

I do have an update to share with all, regarding Claudia's Labyrinth, which then became Claudia's memorial garden.  After many years of continual upkeep and maintenance, and an ongoing conversation with the principal and maintenance staff at Mount Villa School - we decided to replace the labyrinth with a cement bench and bronze plaque and place it inside the playground area where kids can actually use it and see Claudia's picture up close.  

There were many reason's for this.  The original labyrinth was 50 feet in diameter, and was made up of over 600 boxwood bushes.   These boxwoods were to grow up and be shaped into the labyrinth pathways over time, but the snowy winters in New Jersey proved a challenge to getting them to take hold, and up to 100 of them would have to be replaced on any given year.  Beyond that, as Claudia's friends from her class grew up and moved on in life,  the labyrinth received less and less visitors every year who actually knew Claudia.  Her friends' parents are also the ones that helped maintain it over time (thank you Paige, Cathy, Rich, Lisa, and all the others!!!), and their lives moved on also.  You can see in the photo journal on this Caring Bridge page, that over time the labyrinth got smaller and smaller, to the point we made it into a memorial garden.  But even then there was weeding and mulching to do every year.  

Hence the more permanent solution, that requires no maintenance was a polished and sealed cement bench, with an inset, flush-mount plaque that was comfortable for people to sit on and would stand up to the elements over the years.  When Pete (head of maintenance at the school) came up with the idea of placing it inside the playground area where kids will actually sit on it and read the plaque, and possibly ask who Claudia was, I was thrilled and grateful for his suggestion!  Attached are photos of the bench and it's surrounding location - I could not have hoped for a better outcome for the project.  

I hope you like it Claudia!!! And everyone else also.  

Love to you all,

Joe