Families of patients at Ste-Anne’s Veteran’s Hospital are being offered the chance to bond while creating a very special keepsake.
Since 2013, more than 30 families have participated in the Heritage Project, in which molds of the patients’ hands are created. Their loved ones can take part, also, creating unique, multi-generational records.
“It’s nice to have a three-dimensional, tangible piece,” said Richard Chambers, whose father Joseph is a patient at Ste-Anne’s. “It will be like holding my father’s hand, even many years from now. I wish I had done it for my mom.”
When the Chambers family recently had their molds made, it brought together four generations. Richard’s son, Christian, brought his young son along.
“It’s something you don’t really think about doing and then, when you do it, you’re kind of like… it does make sense that we should make more time and do little projects like this with family,” said Christian.
The family patriarch, Joseph, is a veteran of World War II and has been a patient at the hospital for almost a year, suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s Disease.
“We have to do something to keep it in our memory because there is no one left from the first World War and very few left from the second,” said Richard.
While the Chambers family is still awaiting the finished product, Richard said he hopes it will become a treasured family heirloom.
“I hope it’s in my home and I can pass it along to my grandson, so he can have a sculpture of his great grandfather,” he said.
