Couple Builds Garden At Hospital To Honor Child

Eileen Curran, Aug 22, 2006 4:16 pm US/Eastern

(CBS4)BOSTON There is nothing so joyful as the birth of a child and nothing as devastating as the loss of one.

A local family knows this firsthand, having experienced both these emotions at the same time. They have created something beautiful -- a special garden, born of their love and loss.

Six stories above a Boston street is a beautiful rooftop garden -- a children's fairy garden full of whimsical plants and flowers.

“Everything is pink or blue, has fairy tale name,” said landscape artist Tim Dolan. “This one is (the) humpty dumpty spruce.”

Dolan created this enchanting space outside the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

His wife Amy encouraged him to do so after the birth of their children, Johanna and Charlie and the loss of their third triplet Linnea.

The Dolans’ pregnancy was 28 weeks along when they learned one of the triplets, a girl, had died in utero, and the other two babies were about to be born.

Johanna and Charlie weighed a little over two pounds each and remained in the NICU for two months.

During that time, the Dolans would seek refuge on the patio. “It was just a good place to come and get away for a few minutes if you needed to.”

Back then, it wasn’t covered in beautiful flowers.

So, in memory of Linnea, and in honor of the staff who worked so hard to save their remaining two children, Tim Dolan designed and installed the rooftop garden.

It's a place for doctors and nurses to take a break and parents to find respite from the stress of a sick child.

It was a gift from grateful parents. "That's why they're alive today.”

Among the blossoming plants is a small one that’s ready to bloom. It's the "Linnea borealis" -- a small pink twin flower the Dolans named their daughter after. Not only will Linnea always live in their hearts, but also in this garden.

As any gardener knows, good gardens take maintenance. Tim Dolan’s employer, Chestnut Hill Realty provided not only the startup funds for the garden, but also is paying to have it maintained throughout the year.

The garden will continue to grow -- just like the little miracle babies at the NICU.

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