Alexis Batastini (b. May 30, 1990, d. Dec. 10, 2004) was a beautiful young
woman, full of joy as a young Hahira Middle School student who excelled among her
classmates, and who expired at the age of fourteen.
Like our own values, Alexis believed in giving back to her community. All will agree that
Alexis was struck down much too early in life. Accordingly, her family desired to honor
her life beyond that of a cemetery monument, but by also including a very public display
with a bench and tree memorial where Alexis’ vibrant, beautiful life would be
suitably memorialized.
Since, for most folks, a memorial necessarily must be limited by budget and space, the
family desired to construct a memorial bench for display at Hahira Middle School.
The family chose a gray granite bench as the backdrop for memorialization. We worked with
the family to include a message that would fit the front side of the bench.
As we recommend to our clients, a high-quality porcelain photograph with ultraviolet
protection was flush-mounted to the surface of the memorial. Initially, the design called
for the porcelain photograph to be installed on the left side of the bench. Since the
photo of Alexis was facing to the left, I made the recommendation for a design change to
move the photograph to the right side of the bench, thereby having the picture facing in,
toward the message, instead of outwards. Having an eye of a photographer, I often notice
little details that might be missed by others.
The message on the face of the memorial bench states:
In Loving Memory
Alexis Marie Batastini
Those of you who share this place to gather with your friends
Smile, laugh and cry together because true friendship never ends. www.AlexisBatastini.com
This is a powerful message that will speak to current and future generations about the
value of friendship. Truly, this is a remarkably thoughtful contribution.
The website is an equally extraordinary exhibit of a family’s love for their
fascinating daughter. I encourage you to view the family’s website as an example of
how a loved one’s life can be memorialized. Photographs, video, stories, poems, news
updates, email addresses are all provided.
Not only does the website give intimate details of Alexis’ life, but it also answers
the question as to the cause for her untimely death.
I think all will agree that the website memorializes a life well lived. Alexis packed a
lot of joy into her short life and we were delighted to have the opportunity to facilitate
the design, construction and implementation of this commemorative bench.
Alexis’ Memorial will serve as an instructive tool, not only about her life, but also
about the value of relationships to those who presently attend her high school and for
those who did not know her but will attend in the future. I hope you will agree that there
is something very constructive about this public display of memorialization. As
Alexis’ Memorial demonstrates, public memorials can be very successful displays for
sharing values and history to future generations.
Please view Alexis’ website at www.AlexisBatastini.com,
and perhaps send the family an email message of condolence. I’m confident they would
like to hear from you.
Alexis Batastini (b. May 30, 1990, d. Dec. 10, 2004) was a beautiful young
woman, full of joy as a young Hahira Middle School student who excelled among her
classmates, and who expired at the age of fourteen.