Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Wednesday 15 May 2019
A coral reef cemetery is home to life in the afterlife

By KELLI KENNEDY ily snacked on cookies and
Associated Press oranges and enjoyed a
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — day at sea, laughing, hug-
A year after Will and Daniel ging and crying at times.
Payne lost their mom, and The men’s aunt and uncle
nearly two decades since also brought red roses that
their father’s death, it was each member of the family
time to follow their wishes tossed overboard.
for the afterlife. Daniel, 41, of Princeton,
As they board a boat with Texas, said he plans to get
three generations of fam- scuba-certified so he can
ily, the brothers slip into see it up close, and return
flippers and de-fog their every year.
masks. Will, who became “I really didn’t get it when
a certified scuba diver just (my mom) was telling me
days earlier, checks his oxy- about it and the more and
gen tank and jumps into more I think about it, it’s re-
the azure waters to secure ally a nice, peaceful spot
a concrete marker mixed for your last resting place,”
with their ashes at a memo- he said.
rial reef about three miles Hutslar and his partners
out to sea. were solely focused on
This unusual resting place supporting marine life at
is exactly what the Paynes In this July 19, 2018 photo, Will Payne and three generations of his family throw flowers into sea after first, figuring the cemetery
say their parents wanted. memorial plaque for Payne’s parents, Buel and Linda Payne, was installed at Neptune Memorial would help pay for the reef.
Buel Payne, a former Coast Reef near Miami Beach, Fla. But he’s helped hundreds
Guard member, and Linda Associated Press of families say goodbye to
Payne, who grew up on The Paynes are the first to tures offer a high pH level, spotted a parrot fish, barra- their loved ones over the
the water and loved boat- be memorialized in the enabling sea creatures to cuda and a monster snook. years, giving him a calling
ing, will spend their afterlife reef’s expansion, which flourish. Abundant schools of small, he’s come to cherish.
in a memorial modeled af- opened this summer and “We’re seeing animals here colorful fish darted in and “This has actually become
ter the lost city of Atlantis, will make room for an addi- that we haven’t seen be- out of the sculptures. my favorite part — being
among impressive lion stat- tional 4,000 memorials over fore. Ones that have been They had picked out a with the families,” said Hut-
ues and ornate gates and 16 acres, about 40 feet missing for a long time,” small bronze headstone slar. Memorials for children
pillars that encrusted with deep. Placements start says Jim Hutslar, the reef’s reading “Together at Last” especially stick in his mind.
sea life. around $1,500 and can go operations director and to mark the ashes, add- There’s something healing
It took nearly four years up to $8,000, with the prici- one of the founders. “We ing their thumbprints on a about the ocean. He says
for multiple government est placements for special- actually found a long spine decorative concrete sea you can see it when fami-
agencies to sign off on this ized shapes like sea turtles sea urchin that was consid- shell. The divers picked a lies return to the surface.
underwater mausoleum, and stingrays or for promi- ered extinct in the Carib- spot amid the underwater “You can watch something
which is designed to en- nent spots throughout the bean Sea.” city’s striking columns and wash away,” he said.
courage a healthy eco- city like the lions. Sara Thanner, an environ- statues. It happened again, Hutslar
system. Roughly a decade With reefs struggling world- mental supervisor for the “It’s just amazing. It’s so said, as Will Payne paid his
later, the Neptune Memo- wide against coral bleach- Department of Regulatory peaceful,” Will, 48, of final respects.
rial Reef is home to the ing and other threats, the and Economic Resources, Sachse, Texas, said af- “I hope you’re happy
cremated remains of 1,500 memorial’s builders are says an April survey showed ter surfacing. “If there is a where you’re at. I love you,”
people, and any snorkeler providing coral a head the reef supports more than heaven, that would be it Payne whispered through
or scuba diver can visit. start. The concrete struc- 65 different fish, shrimp and for them.” his mouthpiece. “Keep an
lobster and 75 other spe- Back on the boat, the fam- eye on us.”q
cies including sponges, soft
corals, and hard corals.
For people making end-of-
life plans, the reef means
being part of something
living. Hutslar is hoping that
decades from now, the me-
morial will have grown into
a massive coral reef where
individual markers will no
longer be distinguishable,
and “family members will
just know their loved ones
are part of it.”
“We’re creating life after
life,” he said.
While Hutslar, Will and an-
other diver descended to
In this July 19, 2018 photo, Jim Hutslar, operations director for the ocean floor, Daniel and
Neptune Memorial Reef, and Ray Lowenstein prepare to install a
memorial plaque for Buel and Linda Payne, affixed to at cement his wife and three children In this July 19, 2018 photo, a memorial plaque for Buel and Linda
baluster mixed with their ashes, at the Neptune Memorial Reef snorkeled on the surface, Payne, affixed to a cement baluster mixed with their ashes, is
near Miami Beach, Fla. gazing down through the displayed near Miami Beach, Fla.
Associated Press strong clear currents. They Associated Press