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Creating a memorial garden


AmyLyonAuthor

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AmyLyonAuthor

One of the first things I did after losing my daughter was to create a Memorial Garden in her memory. It has been therapeutic to watch plants grow and to have a special place to go to think about her.

Spring is coming early in Minnesota - The tulips are poking through the ground and soon will display brilliant bursts of yellow, red and pink along our driveway. In addition to the beautiful perennials and pots for annuals, there is a bench, rock walkway, angel statue, bird bath and arbor at the entrance.

I've posted photos from last year on my blog: http://www.rememberourlovedones.blogspot.com

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Amy, thank you for your post. We had not done this, but recently decided to. My daughter Rachael spent a year in Minnesota before coming to Texas where she died. She died 8-7-2007, right after your daughter apparently. We are going to start some type of garden in her memory this spring. My son has already chosen the type of trees we will use. Please tell me more about the garden, and your daughter.

Thank you,Maddy

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davincidanes

The garden is beautiful. Spring is here in TN and it used to be my favorite time of year. These past 2 years have made my normal wanting to work in the garden nearly impossible. It was last year at this time that I was diagnosed with rectal cancer, albiet early stages and since "cured". Next month I have a check-up and new scans to assure that it has not come back. And then this year, my son died.... the IDC attitude about the yard and garden has prevailed to this point. Maybe I will give it a go and see if it can be therapeutic for me. Thank you for sharing you beautiful photos of the garden.

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darlenestark

Amy - your garden is beautiful! I think that we should all give ourselves a special place to remember and celebrate the lives of our beloved children...

Creating a memorial garden for my son Ali was one of the first thoughts that came to me in the days after he died, 12 weeks ago today. And I knew immediately where it would be - under a maple tree on the shore of our little lake. When I first moved back here to this place my grandmother established in 1947, the "garden" was just a place on the edge of the beach where grass and weeds flourished in the roots of the maple. Over the past 13 years, it has become a collection spot for all the rocks and driftwood pieces I find just too interesting or unusual to pass by. It is where I sit most every morning with my first cup of coffee, to experience the lightening of the new day. It is where I now sit and do my "morning mourning". I always wanted to do something with the garden, and I'd get ideas and make plans, but I never did anything with it. How could I choose any other place on earth to memorialize my Ali? This is where he lounged on a bench after a swim, where he launched the canoe for a solitary paddle around the lake, where he sat on the deck playing his guitar, where he enjoyed late nights and early mornings sitting and laughing around the bonfire...

I started working on the garden about a month ago, building a sea wall with the large rocks and planting some ornamental grasses someone gave me. I'm creating a little river running from the base of the maple and down to the shore - Ali's daughter's name is River. I have some red rocks from Lake Superior that I collected when I first took him up to college, and I've asked his wife to collect rocks from all of the places in the Upper Peninsula where they shared their sweetest memories. I'm hoping that his baby daughter will grow up to be a rock collector, as a way to remember her daddy wherever she goes...

I'm still working on ideas for handcrafted ornaments to hang from the tree. Ali's garden - just like this grieving process - will always will be a work in progress...

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darlenestark

Amy - your garden is beautiful! I think that we should all give ourselves a special place to remember and celebrate the lives of our beloved children...

Creating a memorial garden for my son Ali was one of the first thoughts that came to me in the days after he died, 12 weeks ago today. And I knew immediately where it would be - under a maple tree on the shore of our little lake. When I first moved back here to this place my grandmother established in 1947, the "garden" was just a place on the edge of the beach where grass and weeds flourished in the roots of the maple. Over the past 13 years, it has become a collection spot for all the rocks and driftwood pieces I find just too interesting or unusual to pass by. It is where I sit most every morning with my first cup of coffee, to experience the lightening of the new day. It is where I now sit and do my "morning mourning". I always wanted to do something with the garden, and I'd get ideas and make plans, but I never did anything with it. How could I choose any other place on earth to memorialize my Ali? This is where he lounged on a bench after a swim, where he launched the canoe for a solitary paddle around the lake, where he sat on the deck playing his guitar, where he enjoyed late nights and early mornings sitting and laughing around the bonfire...

I started working on the garden about a month ago, building a sea wall with the large rocks and planting some ornamental grasses someone gave me. I'm creating a little river running from the base of the maple and down to the shore - Ali's daughter's name is River. I have some red rocks from Lake Superior that I collected when I first took him up to college, and I've asked his wife to collect rocks from all of the places in the Upper Peninsula where they shared their sweetest memories. I'm hoping that his baby daughter will grow up to be a rock collector, as a way to remember her daddy wherever she goes...

I'm still working on ideas for handcrafted ornaments to hang from the tree. Ali's garden - just like this grieving process - will always will be a work in progress...

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