Since 2017, staff and community volunteers have maintained a Legacy Garden outside the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center Donor Pavilion.
“The Legacy Garden is both a memorial to those who have died and a place for the grieving to find comfort,” said Susan Smith, Grief Support and Employee Events Manager at BioBridge Global.
The garden, which was dedicated on May 20, 2017, includes rocks inscribed with memorials to loved ones, as well as specially selected plants and a series of butterflies, which represent the spirits of the departed.
One of the most visible memorials is a bench donated by the family of Rowan Windham, inscribed with one of his sayings: “If you can’t see the good…make the good.” Rowan was 11 years old when he passed away in 2017 from complications of Shwachman-Diamond syndrome.
The Legacy Garden also includes remembrances of South Texas Blood & Tissue Center employee Taylor Castro, who passed away in 2019.
The community is welcome to contribute memorial rocks, plants or decorations to the garden, Smith says. The annual renovation of the garden in 2020 was postponed because of the pandemic, but it is expected to return next year.
To learn more about the BioBridge Global Legacy Garden, feel free to email Susan Smith.
