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Glendale butterfly garden pays fond tribute to Jake
By AMANDA CURTRIGHT
The Examiner — Daily Newspaper of
Eastern Jackson County Missouri
The Jake Robel Butterfly Garden dedication ceremony on Tuesday opened with songs from Glendale Elementary students about sunshine and butterflies. But their voices were accompanied by the sniffles of staff, faculty and classmates trying to hold back tears.
Robel, a kindergartner last year at Glendale, was dragged to death in February after a carjacking at a Mr. Goodcents sandwich shop. Jake's legs were entangled in his seat belt as the driver raced down Missouri 291 and Interstate 70.
The garden, on the school's north lawn, is filled with plants and bright flowers known to attract butterflies. Wooden park benches built by Kurt Swanson, husband of Jake's kindergarten teacher, Kathy Swanson, border the garden, and a bronze plaque with a poem in Jake's memory hangs above the spot.
Jake's mother, Christy Robel, said of the garden, "It's beautiful. It's a nice place to see... it's something Jake would have loved."
Glendale principal Galen Hoff said the school had plans to build a butterfly garden several years ago, but because of Jake's love of the outdoors, staff and faculty decided to dedicate the space in memory of the 6-year-old.
Glendale students, faculty and staff; members of the Glendale Park Beautification Committee and Home Depot employees donated time and supplies to complete the garden, Hoff said.
"It's great," said Jake's father, Greg Robel. "I don't know how to describe it. It's really nice to know that there is something people can remember (Jake) by."
Jake's former classmates, now in first grade, wrote a poem for him.
"Where butterflies fly, where bees don't sting, where grass grows, where flowers bloom, where birds sing, where the sky stays blue, where the angels fly, where Jake lives, heaven."
Fate played a part in the selection of the poem etched into the garden's plaque, Hoff said. A staff member found the words in a card, he said.
Jake's kindergarten teacher read the poem.
"Where I have gone I am not so small. My soul is as wide as the world is tall. I have gone to answer the call, the call of the one who takes care of us all," Swanson recited.
"Wherever you look, you will find me there, in the heart of a rose, in the heart of a prayer, on butterflies' wings, on wings of my own. To you, I'm gone, but I'm never alone. I'm over the moon. I am home."
To reach Amanda Curtright e-mail curtright@examiner.net or call 350-6362.
Copyright 2000 The Examiner, Reprinted
With Permission
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