A short walk from the back door of the house, past a huge oak, is a clearing circled by azaleas. In the center stands a 6-foot-tall statue of St. Joseph, towering over marble plaques in the ground.
The engraving on one of the plaques stands out, if only by virtue of simple mathematics:
Richard Jerome Sanders, III
Dec. 1, 1988 - Nov. 12, 2010
Dr. Richard Sanders visits the spot on his family's sprawling property near Covington often. While the past couple of years have brought a measure of healing to the incomprehensible wound caused by the suicide of his son, Sanders knows the closure he seeks might never be found.