Hundreds Walk to Remember in Maple Grove
Saturday was a day of reflection for several hundred people in the northwest suburbs. The 9th Annual Walk to Remember took place on a spectacular spring day at the Maple Grove Arboretum and Rice Lake.
Friends of the Angel hosts the event, which gives people a chance to gather and remember loved ones gone too soon. Their goal is to preserve the memory of someone they were close to, even if it happened many years ago.
Why They Walk…
For many, the walk is therapy. Connie Johnson walked with her daughter Kristine on Saturday. Connie lost her son, Danny, in a car accident in 2004. Kristine lost her brother.
“We’ve always said this is a place where you’re with friends,” Miller said. “You’re with people who understand what you’ve been through. What you’re going through and can help each other. You can elease some of those emotions and just be with people who understand what you’ve gone through.”
“For people to see other people walking in memory of their loved ones,” Johnson said. “It’s very therapeutic and I think for first-time walkers, they’re going to find it very uplifting.”
People gravitated to the Arboretum’s Angel of Hope statue before the walk for a special ceremony. Walkers listened as the names of loved ones were read and remembered.
