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Tribune photo by Alex Garcia
Standing beside Jorge Castaneda as he saw his granddaughter’s gravestone for the first time in May, I realized just how powerful a headstone can be.
Jayleen was just 5 months old when she died, and her parents ahve visited her unmarked grave every week for eight months, waiting for Hillside Memorials to deliver her gravestone.
After I called the company’s owner, he finally delivered the headstone, which is etched with a rendering of Jayleen’s sparkling face.
Her father broke into tears when he saw it, causing my eyes to well.
Jayleen’s mother, Aurora Casteneda, said the couple still visits the grave at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside every week.
“I look at her face and I look at her name,” Casteneda said. “I just meditate and think about her.” 
