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Utah mother finds solace in decorated rocks placed at son’s grave by community

Posted at 3:50 PM, Oct 24, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-24 22:11:05-04

RIVERDALE, Utah – A Facebook group helped a Utah mother honor her son’s memory in a unique way.

801 Rocks, a group dedicated to painting, hiding and searching for rocks placed dozens of decorated rocks on the grave of Colton Thompson.

“We’ve had our ups and downs, but I think we’re tackling grief one day at a time,” said Colton’s mother Nicura Thompson.

Not a day goes by when Thompson doesn’t think of her son Colton. He passed away in 2016 due to a rare genetic disorder called DiGeorge Syndrome, a congenital heart disease.

“He didn’t make it to his first heart surgery. He passed away at just six weeks old," Thompson said.

October 21 of this year would have been Colton’s first birthday. Thompson wanted to do something special.

“I reached out to my 801 rocks group I just joined,” Thompson said.

Thompson asked members if they could grant her one wish – to place a rock at Colton’s grave.

“The next thing I know I come out there and his whole grave is covered, rock to rock. There were so many rocks. A lot of them were custom painted specifically for my son which was really sweet,” Thompson said.  “They said you know your son has changed us and we don’t even know him, but reading your story and hearing about what your family has gone through has made us want to reach out and do something good,”

Later that evening, Thompson organized a rock hunt to celebrate Colton’s birthday.

“It was glow in the dark. Everybody hid rocks and candies," she said.

She didn’t expect it, but 300 people showed up to the rock hunt.

“They don’t even know us. They have no idea who we are they just knew that we suffered a tragedy and were willing to make that day just a little bit more special for us,” said Thompson.

801 Rocks has 24,000 plus members and growing. Click here for more info: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1758742471033063/