GARDEN OF PEACE GROUNDBREAKING District Attorney Daniel F. Conley June 26, 2002 Thank you Frances. It is truly my honor to be here for the groundbreaking of this important and moving tribute to all those who were taken from us by violence. So many times, as a young prosecutor, I watched as people struggled to understand what cannot be understood - why their loved one was taken by violence. It's a question that the victim-witness advocates in my office grapple with every day. There is no more honorable calling than trying to help the survivors of murder victims, and I am pleased that the Suffolk District Attorney's office has historically been at the forefront of the victim advocacy movement. That is a tribute to the many dedicated and tireless advocates who have honored us with their efforts. "To live in the hearts of those we leave behind is to never die." Those are the words of Nancy Larson, whose son Daniel was murdered, and who founded an organization to help families of homicide victims. To live in our hearts forever. The names that will be represented here in the Garden of Peace are a tangible symbol of all the intangibles that live in our hearts. I am struck by the symbolism inherent in the plan to engrave them name of a victim on each stone. It is important that we in Massachusetts, that people everywhere, never forget that each and every victim - regardless of his or her lot in life, regardless of the circumstances of his or her murder - had people who cared about them, had their own life story, had their own hopes and dreams. How do we convey that? The most basic, and perhaps most powerful, is to remember their names. When we name something, we reaffirm its importance, and with the inclusion of the names of all those we remember today, we are reaffirming the preciousness of each and every life that was cut short by violence. I wish everyone in the state could see these names before them. If I could, I would hang them from a banner from the beautiful new Zakim bridge, and ask everyone who drove under them to reflect, in a quiet moment, on all the different stories these names have to tell. That is why I am angered when the media so casually reports the number of homicides in any given year in any given place. Certainly they are only doing their jobs, but a single number cannot accurately quantify the ramification of murder. The mathematical function has not yet been discovered that can measure the sheer weight of the pain and sorrow carried by those who have had their loved ones taken from them. And so when we look at this site, where a riverbed will run from dryness to water, we will see more than a collection of smooth stones. Instead, we will see a collection of holes - holes left in the lives of everyone who has ever grieved for a son or daughter, a husband or wife, a brother or sister, a friend taken from us. When we look at these stones, we will see an empty seat at the dinner table that will never be filled. We will see clothes that will never be worn again, and the personal belongings that will never be used. We will see empty rooms and lonely nights. We will see the dreams that will never be fulfilled - the weddings that will never happen, the children who will never be born, the job promotions that will never be won, the trips that will never be taken. We will strain to hear, but we can only imagine, the songs that will never be sung, the conversations that will never be enjoyed, the expressions of love and kindness that will never be spoken. Most of all, we will see the holes left behind in the tapestry of life. Holes we can never fill, and holes we can never forget. And so we've come here to this site which will become a riverbed, and that, too, is significant, because rivers have always symbolized life. We go forward, borne by the current, never knowing what is around the next bend. All of these victims whose names will be written on these stones had their own journeys, their own rivers to follow, none the less significant for having been cut short, and you who survive them have your own journeys, now, too, from grief to hope. To all those here today who have lost someone to violence, know that by undertaking this part of the journey, by never forgetting, by ensuring their legacy, you are honoring them. And because of that, in a sense, they will never die, but instead live, in this riverbed, and in our hearts, for all time. Thank you.