BRUNSWICK, Maine — A new children's memorial garden opened Sunday in Brunswick. The memorial, located at Mid Coast Hospital's Parkview Campus, features hundreds of bulbs and flowers and a centerpiece of more than two dozen bronze and sterling silver custom butterflies.
The hope is the garden will offer a sense of peace and healing for families who have lost a child. More than two dozen children have their own personalized butterfly honoring their gentle lives taken too soon.
"[To] see that your butterfly is not the only butterfly there is really important for grieving families, so that they can come together and know that they're never alone in their grief," Aime Marzen said. "So even if they haven't met another grieving family in their life, they can see how many butterflies there are today and how many people join them in that type of loss."
Aime Marzen created the nonprofit Madeline's Mission after her daughter passed away at 4 years old from an inoperable brain tumor. The nonprofit provides support and creates a sense of community for grieving families.
"It's purely magical to just finally be here today with it opening officially," she said.
The garden also features a lending library filled with children's books, bubbles, and a whimsical metal sculpture of a bee on a red flower created by a Maine artist. Marzen said she wanted to create a positive environment for siblings as well.
"It's purely magical to just finally be here today with it opening officially and just have it be the beginning of a new chapter for us because there's a lot more to come," she said.
Marzen said there is room to add more butterflies and the garden will continue to grow in the future.