As she meanders around Lost Lake on the western edge of Saint Benedict Center, Barbara Nehls-Lowe pauses, seduced by the hypnotic lapping waves. Sauntering on this warm summer day, she resumes her search for a special bench. She finds it, tracing her fingers over the inscribed plaque, “In memory of Linda Hardy.” She sits, closes her eyes then tenderly talks about Linda — her untimely death, and her legacy of love.

Linda Hardy died from leukemia on June 8, 2000 just two days past her 52nd birthday. A woman of profound faith, she was as intentional about her death as she was her life — spending her final days in her “wee little cottage” on the shores of Lake Superior in her beloved North Woods. Surrounded by family and friends and attended by a Native American shaman, Linda left this world looking upward as the Northern Lights blazed in the evening sky. With her passing, she left a legacy of love, a litany of sisterhood.

Linda believed strongly in people’s goals and abilities. She empowered women to become their best selves by encouraging them to pursue their dreams. She created a loving extended family of friends and colleagues, many of whom provided practical support during her illness. Called Share the Care, the group was a sacred community that both gave help and received blessings during Linda’s yearlong disease. After Linda’s death, Barbara contacted members of Share the Care to install a simple wooden bench in her memory. She wanted the bench placed by Lost Lake because, “Saint Benedict Center is a sacred place for me. It’s a place where Linda worked at the Breast Cancer Recovery Foundation located at the center. I wanted to buy a bench in her honor and I couldn’t think of a better place.

The bench had to be near water. The last time I was at Saint Benedict Center, I saw a pair of blue herons walking in Lost Lake. I stopped and the herons stopped and I knew it was Linda’s presence since the blue heron was her ‘totem bird.’ I just sat down and prayed and talked to her.

So because of the blue herons, because of my connection to Saint Benedict Center (I’ve been coming here for so long — it’s my spiritual home), because Linda loved nature and Saint Benedict Center, it just seemed perfect to contribute a bench here in her honor.

I wanted people who loved Linda to be able to come and sit on her bench at a place where everyone is welcome — where everybody can be with Linda and her memory and her presence. I wanted to make physical our love for Linda and her memory. It’s a legacy of love, of being present to each other.”

Barbara quietly ends her story, “I will be a better person every day because of Linda.” She looks skyward, shading her eyes, and sees the blue heron landing on the lake just a few feet from Linda’s bench.

By installing a memorial bench at Saint Benedict Center, Barbara and the Share the Care group leave a legacy of love that honors Linda’s life, and offers others a serene spot to rest, reflect, and remember.

Marykay Bell is executive director of the Benedictine Life Foundation of Wisconsin, Inc. The foundation provides financial and volunteer support to further the mission of Sisters of Saint Benedict of Madison, Wisconsin, Inc., and serves as an educational resource to the sisters’ many partners. For more information, call (608) 836-1631, ext. 162 or email: mbell@sbcenter.org.

This article first appeared in Mature Lifestyles news magazine’s, “Leave a legacy.” For more information, contact: oakcreek@jvlnet.com or call (608)274-5200 ext. 208.