“Look at us, said the violets blooming at her feet, all last winter we slept in the seeming death but at the right time God awakened us, and here we are to comfort you.”  ~Edward Payson Rod

Last month, Shirley Shaffer went to heaven, and left us here missing her.  She was dear to everyone at Cassidy, and she worked for many years to make the garden the beautiful and amazing place it is today. Because of her skill as a master gardener, her nurturing, tending, and hard work, the garden has become a truly magnificent place where the children (and adults!) can go to be surrounded by hundreds of God’s perfect, gorgeous thoughts.  The preschool children have been watching the miracle of caterpillars transforming into Monarch butterflies lately. This past week, they released a stunning Monarch butterfly named Shirley into that garden.  Many preschoolers have had the opportunity to meet Ms. Shirley through the years, and hopefully everyone who was ever blessed to know her will remember her every time a flower blooms, or a butterfly flutters through the garden. The children learn so much by spending time there, and hopefully next time you are there, you’ll think of Shirley, stop to really appreciate all of God’s creation, and give thanks to God.