Woman marks Mother’s Day with butterflies at infant graves

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – In honor of Mother’s Day, a woman in Portland placed about 1,000 decorative butterflies on the graves of infants and children at a local cemetery.

KGW-TV reports Jessica Dorrington began placing the figures Friday near the grave of her own young daughter, who died seven years ago. She placed the final butterfly on Saturday.

Dorrington says she hopes the gesture will give strength to mothers who also have lost children.

Her daughter, Abigale, was 22 weeks old when she died in 2012.

Dorrington is a physical therapist who treats pelvic floor dysfunction, working with women who have experienced stillbirths or miscarriages.

This was her first year marking the holiday with the butterflies. Dorrington, who also has two sons, says she wants to place butterflies at the cemetery every Mother’s Day.