A Little Girl's Legacy
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"The day she died, by the time we could drive to the hospital up in Connecticut, they had her dressed as beautiful as she always was," Angie Policastro said. "We held her for a long time. We held her and held her. They told us that one of the nurses had been with her. That was very important to us - that she had people around her when she died."

They buried Angela in the Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury in a white casket. "A moment in our arms, forever in our hearts," it says on her tombstone.

Bob Policastro praised the Hospital for Specialized Care in New Britain, Conn., where Angela lived her last eight months: "She got phenomenal care there, but it was just so far away."

And now, thanks to the Policastros, Johnny and Pedgie and Eric can chase away your troubles with a smile out on Montauk Highway. Michael squeaks when he's happy. On band night, Thomas kicks his feet to the beat of a drum. Kelly claps her hands for the Yellow Submarine. Madison loves Barney

"These kids give so much because they're so pure," Angie Policastro said. "That's what Angela was, just pure love."

The brown-eyed girl would have turned 13 this summer.

"We always wanted a piece of heaven just to chip off and come down to earth, and that would be Angela's House," her mother said. "You step through the front door, and it's her. She lives out there, absolutely."

More Children Are Waiting.

There's a search going on for one Long Island acre to build another Angela's House.

The money, $500,000, has been approved in the state budget to buy land and build another small group home for brain-damaged children in Nassau County or western Suffolk. The first Angela's House opened in June 2000 in East Moriches. It's named for the daughter of Bob and Angie Policastro of Hauppauge. Their 14-month-old child died in 1990.

Bob Policastro, who directs an organization he founded called Angela's House, said it's been hard to find a suitable piece of land for a second home in the ever-growing suburbs.

"Our society just doesn't open its arms to these kids," Policastro said. "There are so many wealthy developers and donors. Why can't one of them step in and help these forgotten children?"

The funded by a $500,000 grant from the New York Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, helps about 100 Long Island families care for their severely disabled children at home.

"Sadly, there's a long waiting list for Angela's House," Policastro said. "There are kids that will die before they get in here, or their parents will have breakdowns or get divorced."

A young girl, who was on the waiting list for a second Angela's House, died last month. "If that's not a need, what is?" Policastro said.

The phone number for Angela's House is 631-979-2620. Donations to help fund another home for medically frail children on Long Island can be sent to: Angela's House, P.O. Box 5052, Hauppauge, N.Y. 11788.

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