Greensburg, IN- The Hospital Foundation of Decatur County, in partnership with the Luke O’Mara Foundation, hosted the dedication ceremony for the new Remembrance Garden on the Decatur County Memorial Hospital (DCMH) campus on May 14 (pictured).
The space on the east side of the DCMH Walking Trail features stone wall seating, a dry creek bed, rocking chairs, and native plants.
The garden is dedicated to all babies in the community who were lost through miscarriage, stillbirth, and as infants.
The Remembrance Garden is open to the community year-round from sunrise to sunset.
Eight years ago, Amy O’Mara, founder of the Luke O’Mara Foundation, received overwhelming information at 28 weeks pregnant. The O’Mara’s learned their son, Luke, had Trisomy 18 and would likely not survive birth.
With odds against them getting to spend a lifetime with their son, they focused on the life Luke was already living inside Amy. “Sometimes the overwhelmingness of it all would overtake me. I needed a quiet space, a place to go where I didn’t have to be the strong mom to my two daughters, a place where I didn’t have to be okay,” Amy O’Mara said.
In the time following his death, O’Mara found herself seeking comfort, both alone and with family and friends, in quiet places surrounded by nature.
O’Mara recognized her community needed a physical space, the Remembrance Garden, intended to provide mental health support and healing for grieving families.
This garden not only honors the children who are no longer with us but also offers a location that “Will bring hope and healing to anyone in our community. A place to bring together those in similar situations so they can lean on each other and not feel so alone in their grief,” said O’Mara.
Mandy Lohrum, Director of the Foundation, expressed gratitude for the generous community members who helped make this project possible.
“This garden will impact many lives and stands as a testament to our community’s solidarity and commitment to supporting one another during life’s most challenging moments,” Lohrum said.
“It doesn’t matter if your loss was today, eight years ago, or eighty. They are remembered and they are forever loved,” O’Mara said.
If you would like to donate in support of the Remembrance Garden, contact the Hospital Foundation of Decatur County at (812) 663-1220.
