SPANISH FORK -- Larry and Micki Johnson's daughter-in-law's life the last few years has paralleled the fictional MaryAnne Parkin in Richard Paul Evans' "The Christmas Box."
Like Parkin, Jenny Johnson lost a child and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. But unlike Parkin, Jenny Johnson survived.Larry and Micki Johnson provided the thrust behind the Christmas Box Angel, a statue near the entrance to the Spanish Fork Cemetery. The angel was the sixth erected after "The Christmas Box" was published in 1993. Evans' novella and a speech he gave more than a year ago inspired the couple to erect a Christmas Box Angel in the local cemetery in remembrance of all children who have died. Their grandson, Tyler Daniel Johnson, was 2 1/2 when he died March 4, 1997.
"We didn't do this for Tyler but because of Tyler," Micki Johnson said.
"I think it's really good for other people to go and reflect," said Tyler's mother, Jenny Johnson. "I've been OK for a year," she said of the cancerous tumor that doctors removed from her brain.
She didn't have a lot to do with her in-laws' project because of her illness, but she "helped support it."
People stop by and read the inscriptions at the base of the winged angel statue nearly every day, cemetery sexton Hank Moore said. The statue stands near the sexton office. "Quite a few people stop, get out of their cars and go over to read it," he said.
The words, "Our Little Angel" are engraved on one side of the monument and the date and time of the December candlelight vigils on the other side. On Dec. 6, the fictional death date of Andrea, the child in Evans' book, candlelight vigils were held at Christmas Box Angel statues around the country.
At the Spanish Fork Cemetery about 175 people attended the first vigil, Larry Johnson said.
The Spanish Fork couple started raising money for the project in early February. It wasn't easy. Micki Johnson remembers the stress, the discouragement, but she also remembers the encouraging words of Lisa May, Evans' office manager, who buoyed her up.
In the end, the monument became the quickest erected, Micki Johnson said. Other statues are in cemeteries in Cheyenne, Wyo.; Elko, Nev.; St. Louis, Mo.; Pueblo, Colo.; and Oklahoma City, in addition to the original one in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, which Evans erected in 1995.
The couple raised about $21,000 in cash and materials for the monument, which was dedicated July 18. Among the materials was cut granite, which, until plans changed, had been destined for the children's monument at the site of the bombed Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, where many children died April 19, 1995. The granite was coincidentally set into place at Spanish Fork Cemetery on the anniversary of that bombing, Larry Johnson said.
Sculptors Ortho and Jared Fairbanks made the angel statue that tops the monument. Concrete benches and flower beds complete it. Nearby a small pine tree has been planted that supporters will trim at Christmas when it gets larger. During the recent candlelight vigil, a trimmed but temporary Christmas tree graced the site.
Working on and finally completing the project was a healing experience for Larry and Micki Johnson. "This has helped us a lot," said Micki Johnson. "We've been able talk about it and share (our feelings) with others."
They also have received donations and letters from people whose children have died. "I was really touched by people when they shared their stories with us," Larry Johnson said.
Donations came from businesses, organizations and individuals and are still being collected to maintain the site. A Christmas Box Angel account has been set up at the First Security Bank branch in Spanish Fork.
"No one we contacted turned us down," Micki Johnson said.
"No one can imagine going through (losing a child)," Larry Johnson said, "and not having your heart torn out."