In 2013, I was driving back to Columbus, Ohio from visiting my family in Mississippi. I didn’t have to be back at work for a few more days, so I decided to have an overnight stay in Cincinnati. I enjoyed a relaxing riverboat cruise on the Ohio River. And then I went to The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Museum and the Newport Aquarium. I had a lovely walk along the boardwalk and the Purple People Bridge, (you can stand in Ohio and Kentucky simultaneously).

Another memorable location was The Krohn Conservatory, a butterfly garden. I had never even heard of this. You are correct if you imagine beautiful butterflies flying all around you. Before they allowed us in the garden, they gave us a tutorial. We could not touch the butterflies with our hands. The natural oil on our hands destroys their wings. But they gave us small business-sized cards that we could use to capture the butterflies. The card says,

• Love me
• Watch me
• Do not touch me
• Hold me only in your eyes
• Respect the butterflies

It was such a fun experience trying to find beautiful butterflies and enticing them to land on the card. I have a picture of them landing on my shirt and pants. I finally managed to capture a few on the card, too. 

My second visit to a butterfly garden was in Colon, Panama in 2016. It was just as beautiful as the Cincinnati butterfly garden. I took a picture of the butterfly’s life cycle panel. It showed the four stages of a butterfly’s life: egg, caterpillar, pupa, and butterfly.

The life cycle for each butterfly is the same, but the final product is always different. That’s just like our lives and our response to grief. I pray that your final stage leaves you healed. 

We all make up a butterfly garden. We are uniquely beautiful with our different shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns. Don’t let grief steal the beauty that is within you.