Our friends Andy and Eileen Bond, co-founders of the Ottawa Chapter of The Compassionate Friends of Canada, were honoured during a dedication ceremony at the Butterfly Garden Saturday, September 26, 2020.
The Bonds were presented with the installation of a Butterfly Bench in their names at the Garden.
It was a beautiful day in a beautiful location for celebrating the achievements of the Bonds. Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions, attendance was restricted.
After losing their son Kevin in 1994, the Bonds started the Ottawa Chapter in 1999 to support grieving parents in the hope that each will find peace, a life that is meaningful and is still worth living after the death of a child. They have touched countless lives during their 20 years with the chapter, and now sit on the TCF National Board of Canada helping the organization across the country.
New chapter leaders Larry and Paulette Cadman organized the event Saturday and made the presentation. Paulette recounted some of the Bonds’ achievements – including the dream in 2002 of building the Butterfly Garden itself. “It is with great honor to unveil and dedicate this Butterfly Bench to you both, as a symbol of your hard work, dedication and commitment to offering friendship and understanding to our community of families that continue to heal and live after the loss of a child.”
Pictures from the event may be found at Presentation.
Please express your appreciation to the Bonds for their years of ‘being there’ for us by emailing comments to:
tcfottawa@gmail.com
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Dear Andy and Eileen,
I’m sorry we couldn’t make it to the ceremony on Saturday!
But we would like to thank you for all the hard work you have put in to support and help the grieving parents!
There are really no right words to express how thankful we are!
It is hard to find the right support for a grieving and heartbroken parent, but The Compassionate Friends is there for us!
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
God Bless,
Attila and Margit
Parents of Pte Jason Renato Simon
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The Compassionate Friends 