Gone But Not Forgotten
The Ever After Garden — commemorating loved ones lost to cancer
Introduction
Losing a much-loved member of the family to cancer is not an experience I’ve had. Plenty of people have, though.
In England alone, 1 in 4 deaths are due to cancer. Throughout the world, every sixth death is due to cancer.
With so many lives lost to this disease, losing a dear friend to cancer is, sadly, part of my own experience.
First
The first person I ever knew well, who died of cancer, was Fiona Messerlian. She came from an Armenian family. We were in the same Home Group at church. Fiona had already contended with a kidney transplant and was fearful of her body rejecting it.
Then she developed cancer of the spine. Gradually the cancer grew and metastasised (spread). Fiona was only in her late twenties when she lost her life to cancer.
At her funeral, the vicar held up her Bible to show everyone how well used it was. She had put lots of tasseled bookmarks in it to access her favourite verses. It was a poignant moment for everyone there.
The Ever After Garden
With so many lives affected, the world-leading cancer centre of The Royal Marsden receives money to provide the best care and to develop life-saving treatments. These are used across the UK and around the world.
To help raise that money, the Ever After Garden was opened in 2019 in Grosvenor Square, in the heart of Mayfair, London, as a garden of remembrance.
Every year from the 16th of November to the 19th of December, the garden is lit up with 25,000 illuminated white roses. Each one is personally dedicated to a loved one, who lost their life to cancer.
People from every colour, faith and creed come to make their dedications. Cancer is, after all, no respecter of persons.
In the dark, those roses glow with an eerie, blue-white glow. Each rose has a handwritten dedication at its base.
Below you can can see a mother’s name of Milika, an Asian Indian name, front left, and another dedication to someone’s “lovely mum” on the right.
Here are some roses waiting to be installed in the garden.
Neighbour
Among our neighbours, who lost their lives to cancer, was Carl. He was full of life despite being handicapped as a thalidomide victim.
His legs were normal but his arms were almost completely missing with little more than his hands and wrists emerging from his shoulders. Nevertheless he got married and had a family. He worked in IT and his now-widowed wife still works as a prison chaplain.
Then one day, we heard he’d died. His death was very sudden. He’d suffered obvious symptoms with pain for only a few weeks. But by then the diagnosis was stage 4 cancer and his body was riddled with the disease.
It was a cruel end to a life bravely lived.
Inspiration
The inspiration for the Ever After Garden came from an exhibition first launched in Seoul, Korea, called the Light Rose Garden in 2014. It became an iconic attraction of Seoul installed in Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP).
Within just four weeks, more than 6 million visitors came to see it.
Since 2016 in Hong Kong:
the Light Rose Garden started its world tour to brighten the world with the warm and positive glow of light roses.
Finally
I’ve not seen the above-mentioned world tour. I guess the Ever After Garden comes closest to what it might look like.
The Ever After Garden was a peaceful place to visit and, no doubt, to commemorate lost loved ones. At the same time, it contributes something positive towards the future of cancer treatment.
You come away appreciating the value of life a little bit more.
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