One day soon we will walk from the rain into a garden that never washes away.

My ultimate dream for the Adam Sun Hope Sanctuary is to buy our own land and create a permanent botanical memorial garden — a living sanctuary where every name lost to the toxic drug crisis can be carved in stone among flowers, trees, and quiet paths.

Here, families will have a real place to sit, remember, and feel their loved one’s light still shining. Here, boys and men who feel isolated will find hope growing all around them. Here, society will finally stop letting these lives disappear.

This garden will be open to everyone — a place of beauty, dignity, and healing. It will carry my son Chandis Adam Strehlen’s name and the names of every neighbour we have lost. It will be designed with the same artist’s hand that now traces names in soapstone.

We are starting small and strong:
• Adam’s bench at Troll Beach (Hadden Park)
• Helping other families create their own lasting tributes
• Walking and writing names so no one is forgotten

Every bench we dedicate, every signature on the petition, every donation brings us one step closer to the day we own the land and open the gates of the Adam Sun Memorial Garden.

“The sun sets on many, but their light remains in the lines we draw — forever.”