Tucson Region

Third installment of Ben's Bells chimes today throughout town

You still might get socks or a fruitcake Thursday. But you could find a special present today. A Tucson couple and dozens of helpers will randomly distribute 500 bells in the latest chapter of Ben's Bells, a project designed to encourage kindness and compassion while honoring their son, who died last year. It's the third time this year Jeannette Maré-Packard, 36, her husband, Dean, 33, and the helpers have taken to streets, parks and other locations to share the project with Tucson. It will be extra special, they say, because it takes place the day before Christmas and also because it brings the total number of distributed bells to 1,500. This time, they'll have help also from their newly adopted Russian daughters - Leeza, 7, and Veronika, 3. "We wanted this one to be right around the holidays," Maré-Packard says. "The holidays are a hard time for people who are grieving and going through divorce and all that. We just wanted to add a little more lightness to it if we could." Last year, the Packard family spent Christmas at Disneyland, still too heartbroken about Ben - who died of croup at age 2 in March 2002 - to celebrate. This year, they say it's been a little easier. They could look at his photo ornaments and touch his stocking without the same unbearable pain. Maré-Packard attributes some of that to the project itself, which she thinks has kept Ben's spirit with them. "We just feel like he's such a huge part of this, with the bells and the adoption, and it makes us feel closer to him," she says. "We still think he somehow got this going for us." The project began slowly, as Maré-Packard, an instructor at the University of Arizona's sign-language interpreter training program, and her husband, a Tucson High Magnet School teacher, turned to ceramics as a way to work through their grief. Hundreds of others have helped since, including large groups at several area businesses, and dozens of school groups, Maré-Packard says. Many also are helping through Tu Nidito, a local grief center that's helped the family deal with Ben's death. The center also has taken on Ben's Bells as one of its main projects. The results have been overwhelming, the family says, from teary-eyed people saying how much the bell meant to others spotted running around, trying to find a much-desired chime. "I'm completely, completely overwhelmed and satisfied where it is now," Maré-Packard says. "And it still has the same therapeutic effect for us. It's still one of my favorite things to do, just to go out and make them." About 100 people will meet at 7 a.m., then split up with the bells, hanging them in random spots from Midtown to Marana and everywhere in between. The couple's older son, Matthew, 7, as well as Leeza and Veronika, will help too, though their mother doesn't know how well the girls will understand because of language barriers and the years they spent in orphanages. "They've always been in a situation where they haven't had anything," she says. "So we're really excited for them to experience giving."