This photo is of Edie Marie Clark Montgomery’s first headstone. Edie was brutally stabbed in her home in Ferndale in 1980. She was 18 years old. Her murder is still unsolved. I first learned about Edie this summer on Facebook of all places. Chrey Nelson, who works as an Identification Technician for the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Department, made a post about Edie and her crumbling headstone in a local Facebook group. Edie’s case has been recently reopened. Detective Derek Jone

Children experience loss just as deeply as adults — but in different, sometimes harder-to-understand ways. That’s why including them in funerals and memorials can be powerful. Not only does it honor their bond with the person who passed, but it also gives them tools for processing grief in a healthy, supported way. At Wildflower, we believe funerals should be inclusive, compassionate spaces — and that includes the smallest members of the family. Here are a few beautiful ways