The Garden of Hope

[pardes]

The expansive Christiana Hospital campus is between my home and a major shopping area I frequent. Today I discovered the "Garden of Hope" that has been newly added outside a new Cancer Treatment Center. There is a gazebo next to a pond with fountains and a Canada Goose conclave.

I stopped for my lunch picnic in the gazebo.


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t7/threedogwrite/PathofHope.jpg

It's very peaceful and quiet. The fountains in the pond drown out all traffic noise and random thoughts cluttering your brian. I noticed a memorial in the distance.


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t7/threedogwrite/BronzeTree.jpg

I went to investigate and found a memorial plaque that made me catch my breath as tears stung my eyes.


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t7/threedogwrite/BabyPlaque.jpg

I sat there for a long time taking it all in....the intense poignancy of it, the scores of women who lost their babies, the women yet to come who would add a name to a bronze leaf.

The surroundings of the memorial tree plaque had a distinct feminine feel to it. The keens and ululating of centuries of women who lost their babies hung in the air from the collective consciousness.

The leaves of the bronze tree appeared to be rustling in the breeze and dancing in the sunlight. I had to stand very close to see that they really were not moving, they were reflecting the sun.


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t7/threedogwrite/BabyLeaves.jpg

Suprisingly it was not an oppressively sad place for only a few feet away was the Garden of Hope and the Walk of Hope pathway. It's what women do....pick up and go on, often with the camaraderie of other women.

But sometimes, we must go it alone and when no one is looking, and after the acceptable time limit that others will give us, sometimes we need to go alone to a private place and place a wreath for the anguish in our hearts.


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t7/threedogwrite/BabyWreath.jpg

And then we come back from that private journey with the instinctive urge to be with other women who know where we have been and may go again. There is such joy and beauty in that.

I want to honor the women of TE, all women who has loved and lost, and women everywhere. I worked a photo through Photoshop of fountain sculpture I found in a park. Women of all sighs and sizes who draw strength, humor, and knowledge from other women on the same journey.


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t7/threedogwrite/FountainWomen.jpg

Yes, I'm sure of it. Those bronze leaves that seemed to move weren't just reflecting the sun. No, the babies were definitely dancing.

[TxDoc]

Thank you so much for sharing!

[crazycanuck]

That's so cool!

Pardes, remind me..is Delaware the smallest state in the US? Also, what is Delaware famous for?

[pardes]

Delaware is not the smallest state, Rhode Island is.

I'm not sure what Delaware is famous for. DuPont money perhaps.

Historically, it was a Delawarean, Caesar Rodney, why cast the final passing vote for the Declaration of Independence. Rodney rode eighty miles through a thunderstorm on the night of July 1, 1776, dramatically arriving in Philadelphia "in his boots and spurs" on July 2, just as the voting was beginning.

A mountain bike would have been faster and then we'd be celebrating the 4th of July on the 3rd.

[OakLeaf]

Pardes, that brought tears to my eyes. Thanks for sharing.

And, Delaware was the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution!

[Tuckervill]

The keens and ululating of centuries of women who lost their babies hung in the air from the collective consciousness.


Oh my.

Thank you.

Karen

[TahoeDirtGirl]

Pardes thank you for the beautiful pictures.

My grandmother died in Christiana Hospital of cervical cancer on my birthday in 1993. And I believe where this memorial is was where she could look out her window and was watching someone plant bulbs when she was in there the fall before she passed away.

It reminds me however, that women need to remind one another to take care of ourselves as well as each other. She avoided Pap smears like I avoid taxes and was diagnosed too late to do anything about it essentially (she was misdiagnosed at first with a yeast infection).


It's very strange the way the universe works. I just saw this in the paper a while ago and didn't realize where it was situated until I asked my sister about it.

[emily_in_nc]

That was so beautiful it made me cry, pardes.

Thanks for posting....

[sfa]

That's beautiful--thanks so much for sharing!

And I always remember Delaware as being famous for having the lowest highest point of any state (that is, the highest point in the state is a lower elevation than any other state's highest point--it's something I think about every single day I'm grinding up hills on my way to work--"I should move to Delaware. Why don't I live in Delaware?").

Sarah

[Pax]

Pardes, I'm so glad you found TE. You are a wonder.

[jesvetmed]

Beautiful thoughts. You made me choke up. Thanks for taking the time to take the pictures and share with us all.
Jes

[pardes]

Thanks for the comment, Pax....and the rest of you who commented. One of the joys of this period in my life is the intense reflective nature of observing things and then of course, the strong desire to share it.

And to think biking allows me to use all three of my favorite things at the same time: biking, photography, and writing. WoooHoooo.

For SFA
"And I always remember Delaware as being famous for having the lowest highest point of any state (that is, the highest point in the state is a lower elevation than any other state's highest point--it's something I think about every single day I'm grinding up hills on my way to work--"I should move to Delaware. Why don't I live in Delaware?")."

The irony of the highest point in Delaware being the lowest highest point in the US is that there is a marker at that very spot and it is only one block from dear friends of mine who are very very serious bikers, especially the husband of the pair, Drew Knox. In fact he is the one who taught me to change a tire tube.

[Crankin]

I am impressed that there is a memorial for women who lost their babies. Most people don't know how to or want to discuss this. Not very many people know that I lost a little girl a year before my son Josh was born. Although I think we handled it as well as anyone could have and it doesn't "upset" me to think about it, I always wonder what it would be like to have a daughter. It's also hard to believe it's been almost 27 years.

[Aggie_Ama]

Thank you Padres. I think it is beautiful that they have that for the parents to reflect on.

My husband's grandma had one child that was stillborn and even 40+ years later it is still hard for her. I consider us very close and she talks of her three sons (only two lived on) and thinks of him often. I do not know what to say when she does mentions him but I let her talk of the pregnancy, the fall that she believes triggered the labor and sometimes she wants to talk about the delivery. I let her talk. The hopes, the dreams and the love for James still run very deep for her.

[Trek420]

Similar idea in Northern CA. This childrens memorial grove happens to be near where our family established a picnic table in memory of my Dad. They were just starting to plant it at that time, looks like it's getting more complete.

www.sonoma-county.org/parks/foundation/child_mem_grove.htm

I think nobody expects to outlive a child and that makes it especially sad. :( Such an unimaginable loss.

[pardes]

Crankin, I'm so very sorry for your loss. These special babies live in our hearts forever.

[Crankin]

Thanks, Pardes. I try to think about what a great person she would have been. She looked just like my older son, so it's not hard to imagine a female version of him.
I am getting my "daughter fix" from my son's girlfriend. But, as a wise friend once told me, you shouldn't get too attached to those girlfriends, because sometimes they go away!

[Aggie_Ama]

I am getting my "daughter fix" from my son's girlfriend. But, as a wise friend once told me, you shouldn't get too attached to those girlfriends, because sometimes they go away!


Sadly, this is true. My older brother was married for 4.5 years and I was close to my SIL until she cheated on him and left him. It has been 5 years and I still couldn't call her. What I would say would probably not be nice, oddly my brother and her are still friends. I am friendly with my BIL's wife but I am cautious about getting too close. I hate that but it is true.

[mimitabby]

Crankin, thanks for sharing your daughter with us. I never had a daughter and always wonder what one would look like.
Pardes, thanks for the beautiful photo essay, I'm glad that you found the park and shared it with us.

And Delaware is famous for getting a New Jersey. :cool:

[Becky]

And Delaware is famous for getting a New Jersey. :cool:


*chuckles* yeah, and NJ took DE to Supreme Court over it :p

http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:EUWFtX4AfX0J:www.scotusblog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/134orig.pdf+New+Jersey+Delaware+Supreme+Court+LNG&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

[pardes]

Becky...Yeah well lower NJ still keeps trying to secede from northern New Jersey and be a separate state. They are an odd bunch. I'm surprised there haven't been more law suits. I wonder. Should they wear law suits to court or law jerseys?

[Becky]

Becky...Yeah well lower NJ still keeps trying to secede from northern New Jersey and be a separate state. They are an odd bunch. I'm surprised there haven't been more law suits. I wonder. Should they wear law suits to court or law jerseys?

If I lived in South Jersey, I'd want to secede too! :p My in-laws live in northern NJ, and I dread the drive up there. Them northern NJ people are crazy!

As for the law suits thing, nothing would surprise me. Considering that the Coastal Zone Act is one of the most important environmental laws here IMHO....

But we're veering off topic a little here. :o Thanks for sharing those pics of the hospital campus- very thought provoking and solemn. I'm going to make a point of looking for the gazebo and the memorial next time I use the campus as a bike shortcut.