A new Memorial Garden at Crossroads House was officially opened and dedicated on Sunday afternoon with the help of many volunteers and the family of Frances Menard Bourdon.
Bourdon passed away at Crossroads House in June of 2019.
“This is her going away party, she just enjoyed herself here for seven weeks,” says her youngest daughter Denise Spadaccia. “We had made a donation and they came up with this idea of the Garden after talking with her all that time she was here. We just love it, this is where she would have been so happy to just be able to sit.”
The Garden is handicap accessible and families can plant something in memory of someone if they would like. Residents can also get their hands dirty and plant something if they would like.
“She would go out there and we only had a few flowers (in 2019) and the Bourdon Family left us a lot of money to make what we now have, and we wanted them to see how we honored their mother,” says Executive Director at Crossroads House, Charlotte Crawford.
Bourdon spent the last seven weeks of her life at Crossroads House in Batavia after briefly moving in with her youngest daughter Denise Spadaccia in Batavia.
She had developed bone cancer after mass in her abdomen had metastasized when she was 92, but her family says she never let it slow her down.
She lived most of her 94 years outdoors working her vegetable gardens and flower beds in Cobleskill, NY.
“It’s where she loved to be. Outdoors, that’s where she found peace and contentment,” says Spadaccia.
Leslie Moma, a Landscape Designer from RED GREEN Building and Landscape Design volunteered her time to design the new Memorial Garden after Bourdon had passed in 2019. The Pandemic slowed the process down as materials for the garden were difficult to obtain.
“They wanted expertise in how to navigate the space to there could be a walking path, a place for seating, areas for quiet reflection and then put in elements that make a garden this tiny cohesive and have all the elements that make for relaxation and a holistic type of garden,” says Moma.
After coming up with themes for the families and relatives, the garden was planted by volunteers at Crossroads House. Volunteers Cindy Lowder and Sue Chiddy take care of the Memorial Garden daily along with four other volunteers. Other community members assisted with installing the pathway and the furniture.
“Not only is this garden for their loved one who is here, but it’s also an opportunity for the family member to come and remember as well. It’s just beautiful,” says Moma.
Cathy Winding, a 21-year volunteer at Crossroads House, organized the Garden Party for the Bourdon Family on Sunday afternoon. She says it’s a privilege to do this for Bourdon Family and their mother.
“You feel love, they are so appreciative of what we did for them, but they don’t realize what their mom did for us. Because when you help someone pass its tremendous feeling. It’s a privilege to help them go to the next place in life,” says Winding.
Frances Menard Bourdon was the epitome of beauty, strength and grace, and looked for sunshine in every day according to her family.
During her seven weeks at Crossroads House in 2019, Frances was able to be with her family and just share time with them. All of them. Her family of 4 children and their spouses along with her 10 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
“Thats the best thing, being able to be all together, the accommodating nature of the place and have kitchen access and just be able to do the care that we couldn’t do. Thats what she wanted. she wanted us to be just her family not her caregivers. She was our mom, she would rather have someone else do the caregiving and we could just be present. Thats what mattered to her, our presence,” says Spadaccia.
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