Under sunny skies with birdsong filling the air and trees budding green with new life, St. Mary’s and the family of the late Benjamin John Stephens blessed St. Mary’s Mercy Guest Cottage at Highland Hills Village on Wednesday, March 30 – the day that would have been Ben’s 34^th birthday.

St. Mary’s Mercy Guest Cottage is a freestanding house that will be a home-away-from-home for out-of-town families who have traveled to be near a loved one. It will be especially helpful for families who need to be close to a loved one in critical care, hospice, or Highland Hills.

The conversion of the cottage was made possible by the Stephens family and a foundation they created in memory of their son and brother, Ben Stephens. Ben, the son of Terry “Big Dawg” and Sue Stephens, grew up in Oconee County. As a young adult, he led a full and active life as a photographer, videographer and adventurer – including bicycling the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route through the Rocky Mountains. But on Dec. 30, 2019, he was fatally injured in a car crash in the Atlanta area.

“During those three long, torturous weeks in Atlanta, a little shimmer of light that we had was the house that we were able to stay in,” Ben’s brother, TJ, told the more than 60 people assembled for the blessing. “There was somebody from our family there 24/7 so he was never alone. Just to have that access to him and have that time together as a family, we bonded. We bonded with other families that were able to use it, and it's just a blessing to be able to pay it forward to other families.”

Ben passed away on Jan. 20, 2020, donating his organs so that others might live. “I just hope that he's proud and hopefully he's looking down and smiling,” TJ said.

“St. Mary's Mercy Guest Cottage will be a great blessing to out-of-town families,” said St. Mary’s President and CEO Montez Carter. “We know that whenever a loved one is in a hospital or hospice, sometimes it's a very stressful time. And if loved ones live hours or days away, the stress is magnified many times over. This beautiful cottage will take away much of that worry and hassle.”

In his prayer of blessing, Father Fred Wendel of the University of Georgia Catholic Center prayed, “Lord, we come here this day, we come for sadness and yet we come with hope. We know not yet who will be here, who will pass through the doors of this home, but we know that it will be for them a strength as they journey with a family member.”

The cottage was built in 1985 and became part of St. Mary’s in 1997 when the system acquired the Highland Hills Village retirement community, said Tanya Adcock, St. Mary’s Vice President of Post-Acute Care Services. Starting in 2003, the cottage became the convent for members of the Missionary Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus serving in the Athens area. After the retirement of the Sisters a few years ago, the cottage sat vacant, waiting for a new use.

One day in 2021, as Adcock was shopping in the Wildflower Clothing and Home boutique in Watkinsville, her friend, Genevieve Stephens, the owner of the store, approached her. Genevieve told her the Stephens family wanted to create a guest house to serve the families of patients at St. Mary’s in the same way the guest house in Atlanta had served them. The empty cottage at Highland Hills soon came to mind.

“It truly seemed like a match made in heaven,” Adcock said.

Like Sue, Adcock knows personally the grief of losing a child. “I'm so very sorry for the reason that we're gathered here today,” she said in a letter to Sue that she read aloud. “I know that what you endured was, and continues to be, a mother's absolute worst nightmare. As parents we are not built to bury our children. Know that where there is great pain, there is even greater love.”

Renovations began around Thanksgiving of 2021. Sue took the lead, supported by Terry, the entire family, their Foundation’s donors, and St. Mary’s Engineering Department. Sue and her team redesigned the interior of the cottage, selecting new flooring, furniture and appliances. To top it off, she turned several spectacular photos Ben took on his travels out West into pieces of art and created a small tribute to him so that future guests would know about him and his approach to life.

“My hope is that people that stay here, they'll be able to create memories like we did,” TJ said on behalf the family. “And maybe they'll see the plaque of that beautiful man on that wall right there and they'll be able to learn about Ben, and maybe be inspired, maybe get out there and live like Ben. That's what we're here for.”