Families remember loved ones at Singing River Hospice of Light tree planting ceremony

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (WXXV)- Singing River Hospice of Light hosted their annual tree planting ceremony Wednesday.

Families gathered at the Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula to memorialize loved ones they’ve lost.

The trees now stand as living memorials along the hospital’s walking track.

During the ceremony, attendees brought photos and placed the names of those being honored into the trees soil. Emily Dixon, a social worker with Hospice of Light, said, “I think sometimes, you know, just like funerals and memorial services and celebrations of life, they kind of bring some closure sometimes. And I think by reuniting our hospice team with the families that we’ve taken care of. I think it kind of brings some, you know, sense of closure and you know even healing, like was mentioned during the ceremony. Yeah, so we have paper that can dissolve into the soil and actually be a part of the tree’s roots, and we ask families to write their loved ones’ name. And this year we did something a little different. We asked them if they wanted to write a little note to them to add that to be even more special. And so, they put that into the soil, and it’s going to be planted with the tree, you know, to be there forever. It’s going to be a part of the tree’s roots.”

Singing River Hospital in Gulfport will host their Hospice of Light tree planting ceremony on Tuesday, November 17.