MILFORD - Violet Anna and Iris Mary Carey lay side by
side in a small white casket yesterday surrounded by teddy bears, children's
books and notes telling the "angels" they are loved and have
nothing to fear.
More than 200 mourners visited Buma-Sargeant Funeral Home on Congress
Street from 2 to 4 p.m. to pay their last respects to Iris, 4, and Violet,
51/2, lying in an open casket.
A funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. today in St. Mary's Church in
Milford, followed by burial in Milford's Vernon Grove Cemetery.
The sisters were killed in an early morning explosion Wednesday that
plunged their second-story apartment to the street. Investigators believe a
gas leak may have triggered the devastating blast at 65 Main St., Hopkinton,
that left three other families homeless, but intact. The house has been torn
down.
The girls' parents, Tara and Heath Carey, said they could not free their
gasping daughters from the rubble that was once their bedroom.
Rescue workers pried the girls from the shattered home, but could not
save them. Iris, the first to be rescued, was pronounced dead at
Milford-Whitinsville Regional Hospital. Violet, trapped under debris and
furniture, was dead when emergency workers found her.
Tara and Heath yesterday continued to share their feelings of guilt and
anguish over their daughters' deaths. The girls and their parents were
sleeping in the same bed on the night of the explosion.
"All you heard from Tara and Heath was 'Why are we here? My babies
are not here, why are we here?' " said Judy Gooding of Hopkinton after
leaving the wake. She said she can't bear to attend the funeral.
"Tara, she couldn't take her eyes away from the casket. After every
person stopped by, she'd just stare right back at the casket. This is the
last time she's going to see her little babies."
Gooding, wife of former Selectman Dick Gooding, went to Hopkinton High
School with the girls' grandparents, Cindy and Paul Germain of Milford.
"I just had my first grandchild, she was born a week ago today. A
girl," said Gooding, her eyes welling with tears.
"I said to Cindy, 'I know where you're at now. Cindy said, 'Just hug
her every chance you get.' That's what I did right before I came here."
Jackie and Tom Mantegani of Milford said Iris and Violet reminded them of
their own grandchildren, whom they planned to visit after leaving the
funeral home.
Tom Mantegani said he is leaving town in the next few days and will have
to wait three weeks before he can see his grandchildren again.
"Not seeing them for three weeks is difficult," he said, his
voice slightly hoarse. "I can't imagine what it's like not to see them
ever again."
The Manteganis moved two doors down from Cindy and Paul Germain's Milford
home when the Germains' daughter, Tara, was 6. Looking at Violet, they said,
reminded them of Tara as a child.
"Violet looks just like her mother when she was (Violet's)
age," Jackie Mantegani said, her eyes red and swollen.
"Losing a child is one thing. Losing one that young is
another."
Many who visited the girls at the funeral home said they were moved by
several photo collages that chronicled the girls' short lives, especially
one devoted to Violet's recent graduation from preschool at the Hopkinton
YMCA.
"They look like little angels. It just tears your heart out,"
said Louise Varrichione, whose late husband was related to the Germain and
Carey families. "It's just awful."
Mitzi Varrichione said the only thoughts that bring her peace are knowing
the girls had a loving family and are now in a place free from further hurt.
"We know they are in a good place," she said.
Even those who never knew the girls said they are touched by their deaths
and the grief of their devastated parents.
"I live in Hopkinton and I have kids. They're 3 and 5. This is not
an easy thing," said Milford Police Detective Craig Stanley, one of
several police and auxiliary officers who donated their time to direct
traffic during the wake.
"The whole community is in mourning, not just the family," said
Stanley, who could not bring himself to look at the little girls when he
went inside the funeral home.
Sister Theresa Lucier hopes she can help guide Tara and Heath Carey, and
their immediate family, through today's funeral at St. Mary's Church in
Milford.
"The pain is going to be tremendous," said Lucier, a nun
missioned at St. Mary's who attended yesterday's wake to check the family's
emotional well-being.
"Presence will be the most important thing, not necessarily doing a
lot of talking, but just being there. We will be there to give them support
and strength."
Lucier said no loss can compare to the death of a young child.
"Parents really never get over the loss of a child because that
child is never close to their fulfillment," she said.
"This is especially sad because the children were so vibrant and
alive. You can see it even as they lie in their casket."
The wake continued at 7 p.m. for an additional two hours.
