Garden to soothe grieving families planned for Brunswick

PHOTO: A rendering of the planned Madeline’s Mission Children’s Memorial Garden, with butterflies representing children who have died. (Artistic Renderings by BR Delaney)

BRUNSWICK – A memorial garden where families can honor the memory of a child who has died is being planned at the Parkview Campus of Mid-Coast Hospital by the nonprofit organization Madeline’s Mission.
Madeline’s Mission Children’s Memorial Garden will be installed near a pond, and will be a serene space for reflection and healing. A butterfly sculpture will honor each child recognized in the garden.

The mission and vision at Madeline’s Mission is to rally the community to support and uplift families who experience the death of a child. In creating this space, families will see and feel that they are not alone in their grief. They will have a special place to memorialize their child. Madeline’s Mission will also organize annual gatherings in the space to bring families together.
“As a mental health therapist, I have witnessed the importance of reflective time and space in the grief journey,” said Allison Thompson, a Madeline’s Mission board member.
“We live in a very fast-paced and at times, challenging environment where a lot of individuals and families do not have safe spaces to share the love and loss of their special loved ones with the community,” Thompson said. “To have a designated space, embraced by a respected community will be therapeutic and healing.”
The announcement of the children’s memorial garden comes at a meaningful time for the organization, as it celebrates the birthday of the organization’s namesake, Madeline, who would have turned 9 in August. She died at the age of 4 of a brain tumor.
“In the future, I envision this garden hosting butterfly release gatherings for bereaved Mother’s Days,” Amie Marzen, Madeline’s mother and the organization’s president, said. “I can see siblings who have experienced loss coming to the garden, especially on birthdays or anniversaries. They will see they are not alone in having a brother or sister that is no longer growing up with them. I can also see families introducing rainbow babies (babies born after a loss) to their sibling’s butterfly as a family’s way of keeping their child’s story alive. Saying their names is so important to bereaved families, they never want to feel as though their child has been forgotten.”
The heartstring and central feature of this garden is a butterfly garden. Fixed into a granite base, bronze butterflies will sit atop stainless-steel rods. Families will be able to personalize a butterfly in memory of their beloved child.
Madeline’s mission is seeking financial donations, landscaping support, granite blocks and stone pavers and seating made from stone or other organic materials for the garden.
For information, contact Marzen at info@madelinemission.org