SHAMOKIN -VNA Health System Crossings Hospice will hold 12th annual Butterfly Release and Service of Remembrance at 2 p.m., Sunday, July 17 at Market Street near Independence Street.
A handed down Indian legend tells the story of a butterfly.
"If anyone desires a wish to come true they must first capture a butterfly and whisper that wish to it. Since a butterfly can make no sound, the butterfly cannot reveal the wish to anyone but the great spirit who hears and sees all. In gratitude for giving the beautiful butterfly its freedom, the great spirit always grants a wish.
So, according to legend, by making a wish and giving the butterfly its freedom, the wish will be taken to the heavens and granted."
At this year's release, you may honor the memory of friends and family members who have succumbed to terminal illness.
This event will combine a symbolic release of a bouquet of butterflies and reverent service of prayer and remembrance. The service is free and open to anyone who wishes to memorialize the loss of a loved one.
For a sponsorship fee, participants will receive a butterfly bush to take with them and a butterfly to release at the ceremony commemorating their loved ones. All sponsorship monies help support the local VNA Health System Crossings Hospice program and the services it provides. Anyone who would like to purchase a butterfly in memory of a loved one but cannot attend the ceremony, may have a VNA staff member release the butterfly in your loved one's name.
VNA Health System Crossings Hospice has been providing services to terminally ill patients since 1993 in your community. VNAHS Crossings Hospice strives to help terminally ill patients to be able to live life as full as possible. The hospice concept addresses the needs of patients, their families and caregiver.
For more information about sponsoring a butterfly, please contact VNA Health System at 648-8989.