BARRY’S BAY – Grief isn’t an easy thing to deal with at the best of times, but a ceremony at Water Tower Park in Barry’s Bay helped to make process a little easier.
Madawaska Valley Hospice Palliative Care staff and volunteers organized a butterfly release at Water Tower Park this past Sunday. Community members gathered in remembrance of those they had lost to ceremonially release butterflies and share their memories with others.
Though remembering the departed can be a bittersweet feeling, it was easy to find reason to smile as sunlight filled Water Tower Park. Volunteers and guests alike wore butterfly stickers and badges, and a chain of memorials was place around the base of the water tower. Refreshments were at hand, and live music provided by Reverend Jennifer Canning and Catherine Kahn filled the air.
“We wanted to do a butterfly memorial because the butterfly is such a symbol of change,” explained Hospice Palliative Care co-ordinator Karen Wagner, in conversation with the Gazette. “Our lives are forever changed by the deaths of those close to us; we can find peace knowing the spirit has moved.”
The day’s proceedings went ahead smoothly thanks to the work of Wagner and her organizers.
“I’ve got a wonderful committee that worked together,” she commented. “It’s our first time doing this; it was a lot of fun doing the decorating.”
Wagner also indicated that they planned on making this an annual memorial, in addition to a winter memorial.
Get your August 6, 2014 edition of The Valley Gazette to read more of this story.