monarch butterflies

クライストチャーチの追悼式の最後を飾ったのが放蝶でした。犠牲者の数だけ放たれた蝶-- monarch butterflies--が富山から娘さんの慰霊にやってきた父親の手にとまって、いつまでも名残惜しそうにしていました。（Sugiuchi）

Butterflies released at Christchurch quake memorial

Today has been filled with many tears at special moments - starting with the beautifully decorated flower filled traffic cones all over the city. A memory filled coffee with a colleague who was with me at the time of the earthquake. Being in the front row of the crowds behind the families and police, USAR, Red Cross staff and many others. Listening to the crowd sing to the National Anthem, and How Great Thou Art. The long list of 185 names of the earthquake victims, no longer strangers but people we have come to know through their stories and the losses of their families. So many young language students who had relatives there today.

Finally hearing The Pops Choir singing this so beautifully, with my partner in their number, while 185 Monarch Butterflies were released into the crowd. This made me cry the most - as the butterflies hovered over the people, lingering over the heads of the families. I felt like the souls of the victims were being set free.
http://fourpawsandwhiskers.blogspot.com/2012/02/butterflies-released-at-christchurch.html