MADISON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — On the side of a hill next to Boonesborough Road sits six black slabs. Counting the front and back together, they make the 12 stones in the "Stones of Joshua Memorial Garden."
Russell Reichenbach Cavendish is the owner of the memorial. He says it’s a way to remember loved ones who battled mental health and substance abuse.
“They were people who fought in this life, and they may not have won the battle, but they deserve to be remembered,” Cavendish said. “We need to remember them and their lives and their struggle and their courage and their attempt.”
He hopes the wall and the surrounding garden will help people “to remember and to honor people who have fought – fighters – who have fought substance abuse and mental health issues, and that their families fought with them.”
It’s a fight many families are all too familiar with.
“My brother committed suicide. He fought depression. He fought it secretly,” said Cavendish. “He struggled so much, and we lost him years ago.”
Each name on the memorial represents a family missing a loved one. Cavendish hopes the wall will offer a place of peace. Next to the six slabs side-by-side, a separate slab has a few Bible passages. At the bottom, it says the phrase, “Today shame has been rolled away.”
“That shame that difficulty that hardship has been rolled away, it is over, it is behind us, it's in the past,” said Cavendish. “Now is the time to honor and remember them.”
With the memorial monument standing, Cavendish said that the whole area has plans to be turned into a memorial garden where people can come and spend time. That includes a walking path and a chapel, both set to go behind the memorial. There is a stark juxtaposition between the memorial garden and sitting right next to a busy road.
“You've got this 627 highway and that noise, not always, but this time of day, especially, which symbolizes the world in which we live and how difficult it is,” Cavendish said. “You try and carve out a place of safety and peacefulness in a world that's very busy and loud and challenging and very difficult to survive. So this is a memorial to those who struggle through that.”
The memorial will open fully on Oct. 10, which is World Mental Health Day. There are three names currently engraved on the wall, and people can pay to have the name of their loved one put on the wall. The cost is $200, and Cavendish shared that he is accepting donations to help families who cannot afford it.
You can find the Stones of Joshua Facebook page here.
