The dragonflies are made of stained glass. The rocking chairs are shaped like pigs. The ukuleles are in rows, poised to come to musical life when plucked by children’s fingers.
That will happen Tuesday, when, for the first time, young patients at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital experience the facility’s new Family Commons, a $50 million first-of-its-kind innovation in what Marlo Thomas calls “whimsy” and “wonder” that is intended to provide recreation, amusement and solace for families coping with the trauma of cancer.
Occupying all 45,000 square feet of the second floor of the four-story, 30-year-old Patient Care Center at the heart of the St. Jude campus, the Family Commons consists of 15 spaces — a music room, an art room, a café, even a hair salon with two fulltime stylists who will use safe “infection control” products — for patients, siblings, parents and other…
