Councillors Dylan Bressey and Eunice Friesen (Friesen is the owner and founder of Bear Creek Funeral Home) and Good Grief Community member Sue Fuller unveil the Good Grief Garden on Tuesday, July 20 (Photo: Shaun Penner / EverythingGP)

By Shaun Penner

Community

Community grief garden planted at Bear Creek Funeral Home

Jul 24, 2021 | 7:00 AM

A new community garden has been planted at Bear Creek Funeral Home. It is meant to offer the community a chance to share and grow from their grief.

The Good Grief Community Garden was unveiled this week. It was planted in honour of the Good Grief Community, a grief support group that meets weekly at the facility.

An organizer and leader of the Good Grief community, Sue Fuller, says the group has operated for the last several years and has helped many people cope with the loss of a loved one and connect with others who are going through a similar struggle.

She adds the group is a drop-in style, and there are typically 5-7 people each week.

“They are wonderful people,” said Fuller of the many who have stopped in.

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“In their pain, they come in and you can feel their pain, and yet they are always reaching out to the others and want to help other people.”

The Good Grief Community Garden has been a project that has been a work-in-progress for the last several years but got its final boost from the Beautification and Patio Grant offered by the City of Grande Prairie.

Fuller says the garden is a creation of many people who have been involved with the group, which includes items like painted rocks and flowers.

“Some people brought the statues, one lady is going to bring her birdbath,” Fuller said. “Who knows where it is going to go from here?”

Fuller adds she wants the whole community to feel a sense of belonging with the garden.

“I really like where the sign is because people can see it as they come in,” said Fuller. “If they don’t come to Good Grief, that’s fine. If they say ‘oh, I would like to paint a rock, put a memory of my loved one, or I want to put in a bush’,”

“So, it could be open for anybody.”

Fuller thanked the owners of Bear Creek Funeral Home, Doug and Eunice Friesen, for helping put the garden in place.