Yearly 'angel' vigil expand to include fallen soldiers
Cherri and David Teuber said they immediately felt a connection with the parents of U.S. Army Specialist Robert Weinger, who was killed in March in Afghanistan.
"In the end, someone loses a child whenever a soldier dies," Cherri Teuber said.
So, the Teubers have decided to expand the honor they have bestowed on their own child every year since she died 10 years ago to include the Round Lake Beach soldier.
On Sunday, the Teubers will stand with Weinger's family members at Wauconda Cemetery on Barrington Road and hold a candlelight vigil at 6 p.m. for him and all children who died in the past year.
"This program is a support group for families and friends of children who lost their lives," Cherri Teuber said of the Christmas Box Angel program they brought to northern Illinois in 2001 in honor of their daughter Jordan Elizabeth.
The Teubers worked to raise $20,000 to erect a large, marble angel in the Wauconda Cemetery, where their infant daughter was buried.
Every year, they have held candlelight vigils on Dec. 6 in front of the angel as a way for families who have lost a child to come together and remember.
"Robert is buried there next to the angel and his parents lost their son. So, we felt it was an honorable thing to do," Cherri Teuber said.
This year, David Teuber, as a member of the American Legion Riders, accompanied the caravan that escorted Weinger's casket home from Afghanistan.
Weinger, 24, was one of three soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan. He was a 2002 graduate of Round Lake High School and enlisted in the Army National Guard in January, 2006.
It was Weinger's second overseas deployment after having served in Iraq from September 2006 through October 2007.
"You see the families of these fallen soldiers, and I can remember what I went through with my own child," David Teuber said. "This way, we can honor his spirit and the spirits of the other children we have lost."
Following the event Sunday, people are invited to the Wauconda American Legion to warm up and discuss their stories.
"This is really a time to remember the children we have lost," Cherri Teuber said. "It's not just for our daughter or for Robert Weinger's family. It's for everyone who has ever lost a child and wants to remember."