So many of our friends and loved ones have shared their love, prayers, emotions and hearts with us that we have never felt so close to so large a group of people before.  Everyone has asked how they can help, and our best answer is "keep us in your thoughts and prayers, and help us remember Ethan as the happy, energetic little boy he always was."  The money that folks have given to us in his memory is, we hope, being put to good use.  On Sunday, the day after Ethan's funeral, work commenced on a Memorial Garden in our backyard.
 
 

The whole family pitched in, uncles and aunts and cousins, too!
Many of the initial plants were donated from Uncle Wayne and Aunt Martha, who have both earned the prestigious Master Gardener title from the State of Michigan.  My mom, Judy Lechnar, is also a Master Gardener.  The garden was designed and (mostly) put together by my brother, Robert Lechnar, a professional landscape architect and one hell of a good guy.  The rest of this page is dedicated to the various aspects of the garden as it is today, just 3 short days after Ethan's funeral.  More changes are expected soon and new pictures will be added when possible.

This grouping borders the garden on the right entrance.  The "egg rock" has a long history in the Lechnar family.  It is composed of basalt granite originating from the forests of Northern Michigan.  It was unearthed during the construction of the Lechnar family cabin near Otsego, and spent a long life in our backyard in Gibraltar.  Donated by John Lechnar, Ethan's papa (grandfather), it will form a comfortable spot for a child to sit down and a solid element of the border/entrance.  The plant next to the rock is a variegated contortia hosta, donated by Wayne and Martha (wm from now on).  It will spread a little, just enough to cozy up to the egg rock and to brighten the northeast corner of the garden.
 
 

This plant from wm is called "Daisy Fleabane" (yes, a funny name!) that flowers in June with delicate pink flowers.  One of the goals of our garden is to have a decent spacing of flowering and color, so that most of the year there will be color to see in the garden, and even through the winter months there will be evergreen plants to bring life and warmth to Ethan's spot.
 

This is an upright Arborvitae, about 10 years old, one of the more expensive plants that folks' donations helped secure.  It is placed to soften the corner and to draw one's gaze away from the rear of the shed.  Next to it, on the left, is a beautiful iron silhouette given to us by Daryle Olson, my best man from our wedding 4 years ago.  Still to the left of that is a golden showers climbing rose, and one of our planned additions is a cedar trellis to allow the rose to reach its estimated 10 foot height.  Down below the Arborvitae is a varigated hosta and another Lechnar family rock.  This rock has an intriguing vein passing through it and again comes from the Cabin.  It comes to us by way of Judy, my mom.
 
 

Here is an original, placed here last Spring by my wife Shelly.  It is a wegalia (vuh-GAY-lee-a) that has one unique feature: the leaves on most wegalia are a light red/pink and these are a beautiful scarlet/deep red.  At its feet is an oenethera, seen here in its full flower which lasts for May/June.
 
 
 

This lovely stepping stone was a gift from Cheryl Svencik, a nurse that Shelly worked with at the Henry Ford Hospital labor and delivery unit.

 
 
 

This tiny plant is called sweet woodruff. It will gently cover the ground around the neighboring plants, and is known for its beautiful scented leaves, all year round.  It is also known for being resilient to walking, and lives just fine in busy walkways!

And, located as an anchor for the South side of the garden, next to the bench is a Canadian Dwarf Lilac.  This plant was specially chosen for many qualities: it is extremely hardy (i.e. impossible to kill!), it will max out at around 5 ft tall, so it won't outgrow the limited space, and it flowers about 4 to 6 weeks after standard lilacs, so it will flower each year around the time Ethan left us. This lilac was lovingly picked and donated by Ethan's Lechnar cousins, from Canada and the U.S.
 
 
 

Here is the centerpiece of the South side of the Garden, a contemplative spot to rest and think of Ethans life and good times.  Using donated funds from the wonderful Kovonda family, Bob, Don and Judy bought this cast aluminum (no rust!) bench for our bums pleasure.