One of our NICU nurses had a lovely idea to create a butterfly garden at Sunnybrook. We wanted to honour babies who left too soon, to celebrate their lives and their families, and to create a special space for families and for staff to grieve and to reflect. There has been a wonderful collaboration between the Veterans Centre, who shared a garden space with us and who collaborated on our dedication event, the Green Thumbs garden volunteers who designed a beautiful garden for us, the Grounds crew, our team and our families.
We held our dedication ceremony for the garden on September 8, and will be holding a ceremony there every year on the first Sunday after Labour Day. We were so happy to see so many families come to share this day with us! Anne, a wonderful NICU nurse, began our program by piping. Later, one of our veterans joined her in her march.
We were very lucky to have Anke, a Sunnybrook chaplain, to prepare and lead the program. A mother told us afterwards that Anke’s words had made her feel at peace. We also felt very fortunate to have Helen, a music therapist and gifted musician, on hand to provide healing music throughout the program. Thank you, Anke and Helen, for all that you have done for us!
During the ceremony, we invited family members to place paper butterflies in honour of their children on a wreath, which will be kept in our unit throughout the year. As each butterfly was added, the wreath became more and more beautiful. It seemed like the perfect visual metaphor for the comfort given to us through the simple act of being together.
One more moment to share with you … we had selected this date because it seemed to work for most people, but we knew it wasn’t prime butterfly season. We have been busy in the garden for a few weeks and haven’t seen any butterflies at all! So it was wonderful when, just as the first family arrived, a small white butterfly came flying down the path. A sacred moment.
