Butterfly Release Honors Those Who Passed

They call the event a “release,” and it’s true in more ways than one. 

The annual Avow Butterfly Release was held Saturday, April 6, at Cambier Park in downtown Naples on a beautiful morning. Avow, the organization, no longer includes the word “hospice” in their official name, but hospice care and related services are what the nonprofit provides, and they have helped ease the end-of-life experience for thousands in Collier County.  

At the Butterfly Release, the families and loved ones of the deceased had the chance to sponsor a butterfly and see it released along with over a thousand others when the roof and walls were removed from the big screen house next to the bandshell at the ceremony’s conclusion. This is how Saturday’s observances were a release for people as well as butterflies. 

They could also go inside the tent before the release, where butterflies were sitting on and flitting among a variety of multi-colored flowers, sipping the nectar or nibbling on pollen, and allowing one to alight onto a finger, or land on a head or shoulder. The butterflies, unlike other insects, showed no fear of humans. Cameras and phones recorded the moments as people and butterflies communed.  

Similar somehow to hot air balloons, butterflies have a hold on people’s imaginations and instill a sense of wonder, creating a connection with nature and free, untrammeled flight. Something about the beauty and fragility of the creatures, and how they transition through entirely different stages, speaks to the impermanence of life and our own progression through various stages of existence. 

Children stood wide-eyed when one of the brightly patterned creatures chose them for a resting place. Gunnar Reichenbach, 12, who volunteers with Avow Kids and was there honoring his late great-grandmother and grandfather, chose to share the delight, passing the butterfly he held along toseven year oldZoe Hudka. 

Marco Islander Alexandra Diaz, attending along with her mother Myrna, gave tips on how to attract butterflies. “Wear bright colors and perfume. We also brought gardenias,” she said and rubbed themselves with leaves. It seemed to work – at one point, Alexandra had four monarchs on her outstretched hands and another perched on her blouse. Like a number of the females there, she wore butterfly-themed clothing.  

Outside the tent, something close to a thousand people sat quietly under the shade of Cambier Park’s spreading oak trees as speakers, including Avow lead chaplain Janice Cooper spoke to their loss and how to move forward. 

“Where did you go? How can it be?” Cooper asked rhetorically. “You are not gone – just out of sight. This world is not our home, we are just passing through. Until then, I will remember you.” Volunteers, including Ashley Hubbard, Heli Shultz and Kristin Russell with Avow Kids provided games and activities, many of them butterfly-themed, to keep children occupied. 

With at least six types of butterflies brought to the park, the day also offered the chance for budding lepidopterists to brush up on their identification of the various species. The monarch, painted lady, and queen butterflies look quite similar but can be differentiated with a closer look. The zebra longwing, with bold black and yellow stripes, is easy to spot and one to make a point of remembering – it’s the state butterfly in Florida.  

Also fluttering around in the big tent were orange Julias, which sound like a drink, great southern whites, which sound like a shark, and white peacocks, said Avow community engagement manager and butterfly wrangler Tim Philbrick. The butterflies had been kept chilled in a state of hibernation before Saturday morning and needed the heat of the day, which was just at or above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, to warm up and be ready to fly. One hitched a ride on a photographer’s shorts as he exited the tent and flew off ahead of the others.  

Over 650 of the butterflies were sponsored by families to commemorate a loved one. For the emotional climax of the ceremony, a series of speakers read the long list of names of those being honored and remembered. Finally, volunteers carefully peeled the screen panels off the PVC frame, and like the people on the ground, the butterflies headed off into an uncertain but hopeful future. 

After the covering came off the screen house, a multitude of colorful butterflies fluttered overhead, flitted through the crowd, or settled on an individual person. Children guarded those who landed on the ground to keep them from being trodden. 

Families of those that passed hugged each other, gathered up their belongings and headed home. At the edges of the ceremony, life went on in Cambier Park. People walked their dogs, children played, and cyclists rode past. For those who had lost a loved one, another step in the healing process was complete. 

Avow cares not only for those who are terminally ill but also for their families, for those who have serious and chronic illnesses, or who have suffered great loss. To learn more about Avow services, volunteer, or contribute to Avow, call 239-261-4404 or go online to avowcares.org.