Canfield native returns to area to share love rocks

YOUNGSTOWN — Susan Dieter-Robinson said there is no recovering from the day she lost her daughters, Anna and Abigail.

“There’s never going to be a day when I wake up and say, ‘I’m so glad I got through that,’” she said.

In October 2013, her daughters were struck by a car while playing in the front yard of the family’s Oregon home. Anna was 6, and Abigail was 11.

A few months later, she remembered a project the family did for her wedding. They pasted fabric hearts onto river rocks and provided two to each guest – one to take home and one to write on and leave for the bride and groom.

On Valentine’s Day after the loss of her daughters, she decided to make these “love rocks” for her daughter’s friends. One of the girls said it was her favorite Valentine, and when she held it in her hand, she felt like she was holding Anna’s hand.

“That’s the moment I knew,” Dieter-Robinson said. “That was the pivotal moment when I got that slap on the head saying, ‘This is what you need to do.’”

Since then, love rocks have become something of a phenomenon. Dieter-Robinson manages a blog and Facebook page, and she’s traveled as far as Africa to share her story and show children how to make their own rocks. Love rocks have been to all seven continents. They’ve been on the Great Wall of China and in the Eiffel Tower in France.

For the complete story, read Friday's Vindicator and Vindy.com