A new garden for residents to grieve, and grow together was unveiled at the Bear Creek Funeral Home.
Named after the Good Grief Community, a group of people who meet weekly to help people along their grief journey, the garden is an upgrade to the greenery previously featured.
“This has been underway for a few years, and we kept having setbacks,” says Sue Fuller of the Good Grief Community. “Of course the first year you want it to get done, so it’s wonderful that we are finally there.”
The garden, made possible thanks to municipal grants for patio and beautification upgrades, contains statues, flowers, and painted rocks, many personalized with the names of loved ones.
Fuller says it allows for the group, usually about five people strong, to help others along by giving them a place to grieve, recover, and reflect.
“What we finally came to after a year is people have a place to come where they can say something without being criticized, we laugh, we cry,” she says.
“The only thing that we don’t allow is you’re not supposed to say you’re sorry you can’t do that,” she adds.
Fuller suggests while the garden may be named after the group, anyone is welcome to use the gardens as a place to gather their thoughts.
“It’s a work in progress, it’s just like if you own a home, you are always changing it,” she says. “I can’t say it enough, it’s about people, and the love and care they get here.”
The Good Grief Community in Grande Prairie was created in 2013.