The Rock Garden of Hope is a homegrown memorial at Mount Sinai Queens for those lost to COVID-19. At the ribbon-cutting, from left, Chaplain Rachelle Zazzu; Fionnuala Quigley, RN, who originated the project; and another organizer, Diane Lydon.
Mount Sinai Queens (MSQ) recently dedicated the Rock Garden of Hope near its Emergency Department to remember those lost to COVID-19. It is a small tribute—a bed of painted rocks surrounded by a low iron fence—but it is heartfelt.
Staff members for months have been painting river rocks with flowers, hearts, smiles, and messages such as “Here Comes the Sun” and “You Are Loved.” But it all started in June with one nurse, Fionnuala Quigley, RN. She grew up in the neighborhood and worked in the Emergency Department at MSQ throughout the pandemic, and she has vivid memories of those days and of the trailers that held many who had passed away. Every day, she walked past the spot where the trailers had stood, and finally, she says, “I just wanted to change the perspective of what was once there into something happy.”
Ms. Quigley picked out a bare plot and cleared it of debris. Then she started decorating rocks with acrylic markers and placing them on the ground in a makeshift memorial. At that point, she asked the hospital chaplain, the Rev. Dr. Rachelle Zazzu, MA, DDS, to seek official permission for the project and help reach out to volunteers. The idea quickly took hold. Ms. Quigley says Donna Smith Jordan, Assistant Director of Emergency Medicine, and Jeofrey Gacad, unit clerk in the ED, were instrumental in spreading the word. Most of the rocks are supplied by Diane Lydon, unit clerk in the ED, who brings them back from the Neversink River in the Catskills.
“Donna, Fionnuala, and Jeofrey also hosted a few painting sessions in the ED during break hours,” says Jonathan Nover, RN, MBA, Senior Director of Nursing for the Emergency Department. “This has been very therapeutic for all.” Fully embracing the project, the hospital installed a fence, lights, and a small plaque at the garden plot, and held a ribbon-cutting on Friday, Oct. 2.
“All are welcome to bring a rock to the garden to remember someone who has passed or leave a message of optimism for the future,” Caryn A. Schwab, Executive Director of Mount Sinai Queens, and Jill Goldstein, MA, MS, RN, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, said in a message announcing the event.
The Rock Garden of Hope is growing bit by bit as staff and neighbors continue to paint and place rocks. (View some of them on an Instagram page, Emergency Rocks.) Ms. Quigley says that at first some were worried that people might take rocks from the garden, but none have disappeared since the commemorative sign went up. And she is philosophical on this point: “I think if someone takes a rock, they needed it.