When children and teenagers die, they’re remembered for who they were--kids who loved cartoons, school and sports.
In the past decade, more than 300 children and teens have been killed by gun violence in Miami-Dade County.
Terry Wright, owner of the Wright & Young Funeral Home in North Miami-Dade, planned the funerals for some of those children whose lives were cut short by senseless acts of violence.
And even though his business is death, Wright struggles with the homegoing services for kids.
“When you have someone that’s taken from you, especially a young teenager, a child, that’s a hurt that I can’t explain,” he says.
The funeral home's staff members are aware that when children are killed children will attend the funerals.
“It’s very hard to make a funeral kid-friendly,” says Krystle Hale, funeral director at Wright & Young. “We basically focus on the life of the child, what they loved to do.”
They know it softens the blow if only a little when there is a theme like football or princess --something familiar from outside of the somber proceedings.
Listen to the radio story on what it’s like to plan some of these funerals.
Read an in-depth story by the Miami Herald on planning kid- themed funerals here.