The Secret Garden
Working with Heidi Bayliss, The Mater Hospital CEO and their landscape gardener Daniel Di-Leo, we transformed the garden from a small open area to a more private place for grieving or quiet reflection. On the right is Daniel’s sketch of his vision of the garden after our first meeting. His dedication to this project is truly appreciated and cherished.
Drag the arrow across the image below to see the Before and After view of the Garden.
Before
In the days after Kiera died, Deb told us about a secret garden within the hospital grounds that was private and secluded. It was a hidden place where we could take Kiera to be outside, away from the hospital room, the machines, the doctors and all the commotion. We would be able to take Kiera outdoors. Let the sun shine on her perfect face. Let the cool breeze brush over her chubby cheeks. We knew that this is definitely something that we wanted to share with our daughter.
We took Kiera here on two different occasions. To Deb’s surprise, both times we had Kiera here, there were not only many people walking around the garden, but sometimes people actually in the garden itself. She had never seen this before, she thought, and the secret was getting out.
In the days after we said goodbye, Danny suggested that we use some of the funds we raised to upgrade the garden. To make it an actual quiet spot for people to go to grieve or reflect. It had brought us so much value and we knew that it could be that special spot for others in the future.
We wrote a letter to the CEO of the Hospital to request permission to undertake the works. Heidi introduced us to Daniel, the on-site landscape gardener. We explained our ideas and vision for the space, and began the journey toward having the garden ready for and official opening on October 15, Infant Loss Awareness Day.
Daniel took our vision and brought it to life. His passion for this project and true understanding of the meaning of this garden really enabled us to transform it into a space that we hope many will benefit from.
There was a beautiful old teak bench that already sat in the garden. As part of the garden project, we took it home, washed it, sanded it, and painted it. After that, a small plaque in memory of our girl, Kiera Brady Liston was added to the bench. On the day of the garden opening, a small ray of light shone through the trees to highlight the new bench in its new home.
After
Opening Ceremony
On 15 October 2020 we were joined in the garden by Deb, Heidi and three other bereaved families. Due to Covid-19 restrictions we had to keep the group small. Verna, a fellow bereaved mother, played the harp, which was just the ambiance that we didn’t even know we needed. At 7pm, for the wave of light, we lit candles for all our babies and those babies who we are always thinking about.
Thank you to Sarah from Harlly & Co for the beautiful photos, before and after.
We were honoured when Red Nose wanted to write a follow-up article about our special place. You can read the article by clicking on the button below or finding it in Media.
