Tree of Memories recalls loved ones

Starting today, people in Saskatoon who are grieving the loss of someone close to them will have the opportunity to acknowledge that loss and honour the memory of their loved one by hanging a personalized card on Prairie Hospice Society's Tree of Memories at the Lawson Heights mall.

"The holidays can be a really difficult time," Cindy Plascko-Hoffman, a volunteer with Prairie Hospice, explained. "By giving people the opportunity to honour their loved ones by hanging a personalized card on the Tree of Memory, can help make getting through the holidays just a little bit easier."

Plascko-Hoffman said remembering her own daughter Rayna Korte, who was seven when she died in 2011 following a long battle with leukemia, is important.

"It helps me know that she will not be forgotten," Plascko-Hoffman said, noting how she shares a memory on the card for others to read. "A special memory that maybe other people will read. And when they think of her, they're knowing her too."

Resources for coping with grief and loss will also be available at the tree.

Plascko-Hoffman said the holiday period, in the years after the death of Rayna, has been changing every year. The first Christmas she wanted very much to be with family during the holidays. The next year, she was not so keen.

"I didn't want to have any part of the holiday season," she recalled. "It just made me so sad, thinking about Santa and Christmas songs and presents. I just wanted to check out that year."

Since then, she said, she has gradually returned to more fully engaging in the festive season.

"It's just changing every year," Plascko-Hoffman said, noting that she has enjoyed being busy in her classroom as her students gear up for the holidays. "It is getting easier, this month of December."

But, when school is out for the break, she knows it will be challenging.

"That's always a really difficult time for me," Plascko-Hoffman said.

Plascko-Hoffman said her volunteer work with the hospice draws on what she experienced and learned from her daughter.

"She prepared me for this role," she said. "I just feel like I'm doing something that she prepared me to do. And it is truly the best way that I can honour her."

People can hang a card at the mall from Dec. 9 to 19. Participants will receive two memorial cards and may write the name of their loved one inside. One card will go on the Tree of Memories and the other can be taken home.

The cards were hand made by volunteers from Acadia McKague Funeral Centre.

Participating in the Prairie Hospice Tree of Memories is free.

For those who wish to make a donation to Prairie Hospice, there are 100 stained glass hospice heart ornaments available, hand-crafted by society volunteer Judy Bonn. These will be given to the first 100 people who donate $10 or more.