Roo’s Garden

Behind a tall 1926 Tudor cottage, overlooking the city of Spokane, there is a special garden.

Roo’s garden.

Almost three years ago, after a round of in vitro fertilization, Sara Weaver-Lundberg and her husband Russell Lundberg learned that Sara was pregnant with twins. One died in utero, and at around 29 weeks, they learned that although the other child might make it full term, it would not survive.

“When I was pregnant, I felt like ‘Kanga’ from Winnie-the-Pooh,” Weaver-Lundberg says. “So we called the baby ‘Roo.’ That was her middle name.”

Isabelle Roo Lunberg lived only 16 hours after her birth.

But that’s when the garden was born.

Showered with gifts of rose bushes, statuary and handmade steppingstones after the baby’s death, the couple decided to create a garden dedicated to the memory of their child.

“We have been working on our yard since we got married,” Weaver-Lundberg says. “After Isabelle died, we wanted to have a garden for her that we could nurture and care for and that would be a living memory.”

“Roo’s Garden” is carved into a stone slab, and a verse from one of the sympathy cards they received is carved into a bench – the bench was a gift from Weaver-Lundberg’s parents – in the shade of one of the large trees on the lot.

A lower garden, which features a stone patio and ornate wrought iron furniture, was created out of an overgrown terrace.

The Perry steps, a set of tall steps built to connect South Perry Street with Overbluff Road are right beside the garden.

“Before Russ rebuilt the wall and added the iron fence, people would walk through,” Weaver-Lundberg said. “People often stop to admire what my husband has done.”

Russell Lundberg also rebuilt the crumbling fountain and pool so the soothing sound of water falling over stones fills the air. The effect is serene and, in Weaver-Lundberg’s words, healing.

And now there’s new life in Roo’s Garden.

Twin boys, Micah Dash Lundberg and Liam Archer Lundberg, were born on Halloween day 2005. Lundberg is a stay-at-home father.

“These little boys are our miracles,” Weaver-Lundberg says. “We love to bring them out here where the roses are blooming and where we feel so close to Isabelle.”