Daffodil Place is much more than a lodge

This was the only peace we were able to find while the rest of our world was upside down.

When Shana’s mother was diagnosed with cancer, her life changed forever. Living in Western Canada, Shana immediately booked a flight to St. John’s to be with her mom, who was staying at Daffodil Place during her cancer journey.

I admit that I expected Daffodil Place to be a dreary, grey complex with hospital-like rooms filled to capacity with cancer patients. How happy and pretty could a place like this truly be? But boy was I wrong! The place was beautiful, colourful, and filled with happy faces, despite the struggles that everyone was facing.

Shana felt at home immediately. She says that the staff and volunteers were warm and welcoming, and she could tell that her mother and father felt as comfortable at Daffodil Place as if they were at home among friends.

The days were hard and scary because we didn’t know if my mom was going to be ok. But each evening we were able to spend time at the wonderful sanctuary of Daffodil Place together, where we could laugh and carry on as if life was normal and that cancer was a non-existent word in our vocabulary. This was the only peace we were able to find while the rest of our world was upside down.

Shana says that Daffodil Place is much more than a lodge for cancer patients. It is a place to call home when it means the most. It is a support service that eases the burden of a cancer diagnosis for patients and their caregivers.

The people who work at Daffodil Place are like family. It can’t always be easy to open your hearts to strangers every day knowing full well that cancer sometimes wins. The warm and wonderful feeling that Daffodil Place gave to my entire family made my mother smile. She had such a beautiful smile, and it is her smile that was most important to me. It is a warm memory that I carry with me always, and I thank everyone at Daffodil Place, from the bottom of my heart, for helping to keep that smile on her face during the last few months of her life.