Children’s Memorial
Susan Cunningham September 12, 2025
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Unfetter
- By Claudia Aghaie-Butler
- Visuals Editor: Sara Kohrt
- visuals
- 5 Comments
About the Artwork
“This is a reflective piece on my observed experience with death and dying throughout my medical training. The piece features a person struggling with losing a loved one while also recognizing the peace that comes with the ending of debilitating disease. The medium is muslin fabric with black embroidery and watercolor. The piece is accompanied by a short poem with the same title.”
You can go
You have held on far too long
Something anchors you here
I cut your ties
I don’t want you to leave
But it is time
You can go
Claudia Aghaie-Butler is originally from Western New York. She attended medical school at the University at Buffalo and completed an internal-medicine residency at The Ohio State University. She is currently a fellow in hospice and palliative medicine at the University of Rochester.
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Comments
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5 thoughts on “Unfetter”
Claudia,
the anaphora of “you can go” both permission granting and requesting at the same time is so powerful and the art is stunning!
Thank you for sharing this work. it’s amazing to know there are people like you shepherding people like those in your art through the dying process. Thank you.
So beautiful! I will share with my loved ones with the hope that this guides them in their decision about me.
That is so powerful and beautiful. I will share it with others as well. thank you.
Absolutely beautiful – both the picture and the poem capture my feelings when my daughter was ill and dying. And once again, I’m watching a friend of 50 years go through the process. Thank you Claudia.
Wow, profound and beautiful. So much is shared in this stunning art. Thank you.