Omayra Acevedo, Peak to Peak.   How do we put into words what our broken hearts can’t seem to say? We don’t, because we can’t. Instead, we mourn the ones we’ve lost, and we struggle day in and day out asking, why? We search through thousands of things that might remotely speak to us about them, but the fact remains that they are gone, and nothing can bring them back. The one thing we can do, however, is honor their memory. Makenzie Bryk, along with his mother, LeAnn Faulkner, long-time family friend, Scott Harrison and artist, Marion Reynolds, have come together in collaboration to do exactly just that.

A couple of years ago in October, Makenzie lost a brother and LeAnn a son. Brandon, like so many others, was still very young when he passed away. From what I gathered, Brandon was the glue and one of many forces behind long-standing friendships that were made in the town of Nederland. He was very much looked up to by his friends and family. Papa Bear, as most people called him, is described as a strong man and someone who protected the people he loved. I never met Brandon, but from the photo I saw, I could see by his smile alone why so many people adored him.

Part of how Brandon’s family will be honoring his memory is through the donation of a community memorial bench that will live in the Carousel of Happiness. The bench is not only in memory of Brandon, but people like Sara Romer of Black Hawk, Matt Kottman of Wondervu, Jorge Elizondo of Eldora and many more.

While speaking with Makenzie, he said something that really affected me. He said, “We didn’t decide to do this for the sake of doing it. We want to offer the community somewhere they can go to reflect and remember those they have lost.” What a beautiful idea, and even more so, to place the bench in a location that’s familiar to many and happens to have a great name.

It’s inspiring to me how pain can be used to create something positive. Sometime in the spring of 2019, shortly after the installment of the bench, the community is invited to join Brandon’s family and friends in a celebration and remembrance of those who are no longer with us. The bench is a representation of the beauty and sometimes cruel reality of life. On each side, representing life and death, will be the sun and moon. Appropriately centered in the middle of the bench, is the tree of life resembling all the things that bring us together.

Family, friends, neighbors, strangers, visitors, social butterflies and loners. It is the sum of all our differences that make up a community, but the support that we give one another is what makes the community so beautiful and makes a place really feel like home. After I lost my mother, I kept searching for ways to heal. What helped me most was not the time I spent crying alone or feeling sorry for myself, it was the support I received. It was the kind words and thoughts that made me realize I wasn’t alone and that I always had somewhere and someone to turn to. I will never forget an Eskimo proverb a friend once shared with me:

Perhaps, they are not stars
but rather openings in heaven.
Where the love of our lost ones pours through
And shines down upon us
To let us know they are happy

We all need closure, solace and a foundation to start again. We all have our ways of dealing with tragedy. If anything can bring people together, it is the one thing we all have in common. The loss of someone we hold dear to our hearts. I was given an assignment to write about a local project pertaining to a memorial bench. It was my duty to gather details, photos and facts. What I got was a reminder of how fragile and beautiful life truly is.

If you would like to make a donation to the Community Memorial Bench, you can do so with a check made out directly to “Carousel of Happiness” with a memo for memorial bench. Send to: Carousel of Happiness, c/o Memorial Bench Fund, PO Box 1811, Nederland, CO 80466