Clinton Township, Eastpointe

Late Eastpointe girl recognized with award, remembered fondly

By Sara Kandel
C & G Staff Writer

» Click on image to view full size « Alana Lee’s drawing of how she enjoyed clean water was one of only 12 chosen from 1,000 entries. Alana Lee’s drawing of how she enjoyed clean water was one of only 12 chosen from 1,000 entries. Photo by Sara Kandel | Arlita Lee and LaVale Harvey share memories of their daughter Alana, who was killed in a car accident last month, at an award ceremony Feb. 8. Photo by Sara Kandel Arlita Lee and LaVale Harvey share memories of their daughter Alana, who was killed in a car accident last month, at an award ceremony Feb. 8.

CLINTON TOWNSHIP — There was a sad tone to the otherwise happy event this year when the Macomb County Public Works Environmental Calendar and Recycling Awards included a memorial service for a young girl who was recently killed in a car accident.

When environmental educator Barb Matthews called the October winner of the county environmental calendar at the Feb. 8 event, she paused for a brief moment before explaining to the crowd that 8-year-old Alana Lee was not there to collect her award that night.

Alana and her 2-year-old brother LaVale Harvey Jr. were killed when an elderly man crashed into the family car on their way to a visit at grandpa’s house in Detroit on Jan. 8.

Beth Bur, Alana’s third-grade teacher at Pleasantview Elementary in Eastpointe, spoke about the young artist.

“Even teachers who didn’t have Alana knew who she was,” Bur said. “She was just that kind of student. She wasn’t just bright and intelligent. She was nice. She was the sweetest girl.”

Bur read from an assignment Alana wrote in the fall.

“I will make the world a more beautiful place,” Alana wrote. “First, I will clean up litter. No one deserves to live on a nasty Earth, especially our animals. Second, I will plant trees and flowers, so birds and other animals have a home to live in and so we have oxygen to breathe. A lot of trees get burned down, so I will plant new ones for all of us.”

It was a fitting piece for the annual environment contest and great way to relate the story of the little girl who was passionate about everything — but especially life, art and nature.

“She would always turn off the lights,” Arlita Lee, Alana’s mom, said. “I remember I threw some batteries in the garbage one day, and oh, she had a heart attack. ‘You’re not suppose to throw those in the garbage.’”

Alana’s parents teared up as they spoke about her after the ceremony.

“It’s like every day I come home and all their stuff is still there,” Lee said. “I haven’t packed anything up. It’s like I have expectations that they are going to be there one day, and they’re not.”

“It’s like a dream you’re just waiting to wake up from,” LaVale Harvey said.

“You never wake up from it,” Lee said, dabbing at tears.

The couple said that in the future they might start a scholarship fund in Alana’s memory, but for now they’re just trying to get through each heart-wrenching day.

“As a parent, you live through your rearview,” Harvey said. “Every time I’m in the car, I look up to check on them, but they’re not there.”

It’s the everyday stuff that’s the hardest. Things that most people do without thought, Harvey and Lee are forced to think about now.

Things like trips to the grocery store.

“I’m still grabbing all the stuff for them; then, I realize they aren’t there,” Lee said.

Sharing their favorite memories, laughter broke through their tears at times.

“She loved to fish, so when I did have time to go fishing with her I did, and one time me and my buddies, her uncles, cousins, we’re all out fishing, and we decide to make a bet, a $5 or $10 bet that whoever catch the first fish wins,” Harvey said. “Then just as we’re starting, we look up because Alana is screaming ‘Daddy! Daddy!’ She got a fish.”

Alana’s love for nature was mirrored in her baby brother, whom she adored.

“Alana taught him everything she knew,” Harvey said. “He knew his ABCs. He could count to 12. He even knew how to count money and what it was for. One morning he came and woke me up and asked me for some juice. I said, ‘It’s 6:30 in the morning. Daddy’s tired. You’ve got to wait son.’ So he went in his room and found some nickels and pennies, and came back and handed me the money. Basically saying, ‘Take the money. I want some juice.’”

The ceremony made for a difficult night for them, but Harvey and Lee knew they had to be there to honor their little girl’s hard work. Her dream.

“She deserved this,” Lee said. “She was so excited when she found out she won because she worked so hard for this and she loved to draw. She loved to sew too. She sewed her own clothes. She wanted to be a doctor-scientist-fashion designer.”

And in a way, Alana’s winning drawing embodies many of those goals. The picture shows birds, squirrels and fish in their natural habitats, and in a canoe, there are three girls with eye shadow and accessories that match their clothing.

Lee and Harvey say they’ll mount their daughter’s winning picture somewhere in their home. It represents a lot to them — Alana as a whole, who she was and wanted to be, and the memories they shared with her. The picture is both a happy memory and a reminder of the bitter sadness her death brought.

The man who struck their car that night is alive, but he’s still in the hospital awaiting charges upon his release, the parents said.

“Every morning, he’s going to wake up,” Lee said. “He’s going to eat his breakfast. He might not like his living conditions, but he’s still alive, but my kids don’t have that opportunity to get up in the morning. They don’t have that.”

“I don’t get a chance to see them walk across the stage. I’m never going to see my son go to his first day of school. I’m never going to see my daughter graduate and all her accomplishments and the things she works so hard for. She was a straight-A student. She worked hard for everything. She was a good kid. They were both good kids. He took all of that away from them.”
 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Sara Kandel at skandel@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1030.