Photo Credit: David Slater
I am almost ready to retire from my career as a nature center director. I say “almost” because I have a few years left in this decades-long challenging and enjoyable run. I love what I do, but I was not trained for a lot of what this job entails. I am sure many in the recreation field can say the same.
I was trained to be a naturalist and an educator. However, I find that I spend a great deal of time consoling grieving visitors who want to memorialize their loved ones with a plaque of some kind at the nature center. I listen to them tell their stories and try to find out how best to memorialize the deceased. I often suggest language for the plaques and locations for the benches. Did their loved ones like the open prairies or would a view of the forest be more appropriate?
Much to my surprise and often to my delight, I often feel I run a memorial park with a view. In my experience, nature centers are very comforting to those who grieve. Visitors want to preserve and honor the memory of their loved ones who either walked our trails or loved nature in a general way. I am delighted that this 150-acre slice of nature in the midst of the city means enough to people that they will take out their checkbook and invest in our infrastructure. In this respect, this has a dual benefit; it improves the look and function of the nature center and it gives the grief-stricken a level of satisfaction that serves to soothe their sadness.