By Linda Pollitt
Holy Cross School
They are there. Are they invisible to those who walk by? Invisible to those who drive by at a speed that exceeds the limit? To drivers who turn onto Scull Terrace? Look! They are right there! Are they invisible to you? I hope not. Because they are there. Maybe it’s because they are small in size? Or maybe because they are placed in a bit of a swale on the grassy side in front of the hedgerow on State Street?
Invisible. Unseen, overlooked, unnoticed, or just plain ignored. Like the lives of countless aborted children.
Every October in Dover eighth grade members of Holy Cross School National Junior Honor Society place no less than one hundred white crosses in and around the swale on the grassy side in the front of the hedgerow on State Street. These white crosses will remain in plain view of all who pass by in memory of those whose lives have been cut short prior to birth.
I first saw a collection of white crosses placed outside of a Catholic Church I once attended. I was in awe as I walked the pathway to the church entrance. As I rounded a bend there were more crosses. The crosses were placed over the entire property of the church. It seemed like hundreds. The entire landscape of the church was a sea of white crosses. But, I did not know why. It was an imposing, almost (dare I say?) majestic sight.
Little did I know that this impressively large collection of simple white crosses stood in memory of those without a voice, those without a choice.
The collection of simple white crosses is known as a “Cemetery of the Innocents.” When I learned of the meaning of this memorial, I wanted our school to be one of the communities to pay homage in a similar manner.
Mrs. Riecks and Mrs. Wojtkiewicz were Honor Society moderators at the time. I approached them with the proposal that our NJHS members build and paint the crosses that would be “planted” each October in memory of lives lost to abortion. It was a tall order. Time being one of the biggest considerations. In the end, Mr. Bill Wojtkiewicz created all the crosses we still use today.
And so it has been in the past couple of weeks, I’ve listened to a loud rumbling sound round the corner of the office — every day at the same time. It is the large empty wagon that thirty minutes previous had been loaded with white crosses. Pulling the wagon is an eighth grade NJHS student accompanied by his peers, hammers in hand while Mrs. Peek followed closely behind. It is during their recess time that the students work in the construction of the Holy Cross School memorial honoring those babies who were never given a chance.
Linda Pollitt is principal of Holy Cross School in Dover.
