Diane Misch lost her daughter, Melanie Aronow, when she was only 18 years old. This Sunday marks the first anniversary of her passing and Misch went to pay her a visit at the cemetery like she usually does. But what she found warmed her heart.
A little rock with an angel painted on it was placed at the gravestone. Initially she thought it was from one of her daughter’s friends, but when she turned it over and saw that it said “Sweet Buffalo Rocks” she searched for it on Facebook.
“It was important to me to let someone know I found it,” said Misch. “With the one year anniversary of Mel’s death so close, it’s been a very emotional time. One of my biggest fears as a grieving mother is that Mel will be forgotten by people. So to find that angel stone, and know that someone else was thinking about her, made me feel so good.”
Misch posted the angel photo in the Facebook group to thank whoever left the rock and to tell them what it meant to her. The group responded with an outpour of love and support. Misch wanted to let everyone know what kind of person her daughter was so she shared a few stories.
“Mel was a spitfire of a girl. She could be fierce with her emotions. But if she was your friend, she was fiercely loyal. She loved with no boundaries. She was kind in so many ways. She didn’t care if you were black, white, rich, poor, gay or straight. Well over 300 people came through the funeral home last year, but there were 3 kids that I’ll never forget. One kid told me he would have never come out as gay if it weren’t for Mel. Another told me Mel would dig for loose change in her car to buy him Tim Hortons on Fridays. One small, shy guy, near the end of the line, all by himself in a shirt and tie, painfully told me that he remembered Mel in elementary school. That she always said hi and was nice to him the no one else was. That’s our Mel. I miss her beyond words, but I’m so, so proud of the young woman she was.”
“When so many people liked it and commented… well I felt like I was able to share Mel with an entire new group of people. I shared my recent post about Mel’s character so that everyone on there would know that she is absolutely loving the stone and the entire idea of leaving the rocks for people to find. The was absolutely perfect timing and it has warmed my heart,” said Misch.
The rock was painted by Jeannie Sullivan of Lockport and hidden by her sister and granddaughter. When asked why she placed the rock there, Jeannie’s sister said “her heart told her to do it, that this is where it belongs.”
