Lavender - Ramapo, NY

There is a tale of an event years ago in Ramapo, New York.  Two boys wanted to go to a high school dance.  So they borrowed a car and drove off toward the high school.  Along the road they came across a young girl who was hitch hiking.  She told them her name was Lavender.  She happened to also be wearing a lavender colored dress.  She was on her way to the dance as well so they offered her a ride.  They arrived at the dance, and one of the boys in particular was especially taken with Lavender and they danced the night away.  His friend however, did not recall his friend being able to dance at all.

It was getting late and it was time to leave.  When Lavender got into the car, one of the boys noticed that she was cold to the touch.  He put his jacket around her to keep her warm.  She told them where she lived and as they approached the bridge to cross into the village where she lived, she suddenly told them to stop and let her out at the bridge.  They did so and they drove off.  The next day, the boys realized that Lavender still had the boy's jacket.  They decided to drive to her village to find her and get it back.  They started through the town stopping at each home asking if they knew Lavender.  Each home told them they could not help them.  Until finally they knocked on the door of an old lady's house.  She answered and told them that yes, she did know Lavender.  She was her daughter.  They told her she must have been mistaken because Lavender was much too young to be her daughter.  She said "No, that sounds like her". And she showed them a picture of her and sure enough it was her.  However, she said Lavender died years ago when she was struck by a truck on the bridge on her way to the school dance.  She told them that she was buried in the Ramapo cemetery.  The boys did not believe her as they saw her just the night before.






On the way home they decided to stop by the cemetery and see for themselves if her grave was really there.  As they walked into the cemetery, they saw the boy's jacket hanging over a tombstone.  It was the grave of Lavender.