A crowd of about 250 people gathered last Saturday afternoon (June 28) on Virginia Street in Uphams Corner for a ceremony to dedicate a memorial square in the name of Christian J. Barros, age 2, who died last December from an aggressive form of cancer.

The youngest of five children born to John and Tchintcia— both well loved and respected leaders in Dorchester and Roxbury— little Christian passed after a battle that inspired Bostonians from all walks of life.

Saturday’s speaking program began with a prayer led by Fr. John Currie, the pastor of St. Patrick’s parish who spoke in both English and Cape Verdean. He was joined by Mayor Michelle Wu, City Councillor John FitzGerald, City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, state Senators Liz Miranda and Lydia Edwards, and state Rep. Chris Worrell, all of whom offered heartfelt remarks about the grief of losing young Christian.

The event, which unfolded under an overcast sky that has been a hallmark of Saturdays this season, was partly solemn and tearful, but it also featured moments of genuine love, affection, and pride in community.

The blue memorial square marker with Christian’s name that now stands sentinel on the corner of Virginia Street and Davern Avenue will keep his name and memory alive for years to come.

“He’ll be an inspiration to your family, to his brothers and sisters,” said Councillor FitzGerald. “He’ll be an inspiration to your home, an inspiration to this street, to this block, to this neighborhood, and an inspiration to this city.”

Rep. Worrell lifted spirits and drew applause for the Barros family even as he shared his own story of loss.

“Two years ago I lost my son, Caleb Worrell. One of the first texts I got was from the Barros family, wrapping their arms around me,” he recalled. “Then, during Christian’s ordeal, my wife and I sent scriptures and constantly prayed, ‘cause this is what community is. We pray for each other. When you hurt, we hurt. When you’re praying, we’re also praying.”

Christian’s dad closed the speaking program with words of thanks and affirmations for the men and women in government and public safety uniforms who stood with his family, including Mayor Wu, who, he noted, was his election foe in the 2021 mayoral contest.

“Look, I ran against this woman right here,” said Barros. “I want tell you I’m so excited [that] we’ve got a mother as our mayor. She came at this as a mother. She was with us in this really motherly way, right?”

Barros and Sen. Miranda, another Cape Verdean leader from this part of the city, both noted how much loss their community has endured.
“I just want to recognize all of the people in our community that have lost children,” said Barros. “A lot of pain, right? A lot of loss, uh, in the community. But I really firmly believe… some of those losses have brought us closer.”

He continued: “They remind us about how precious life is, how precious our relationships are, how precious family, community, neighbors are to each other, how precious our lives are, right? And, that’s what we should hold onto…This is about the love that we each have for each other, and we get to show and how we’re reminded about how deep that love is in times of tragedy, right? Times when we need each other. And so that’s really the celebration today.”

Amen to that.