It's the time of year when families come together to share special meals and holiday traditions — and that can be tough for kids who are sick in the hospital.

Ruth Cull's clown character Mollypenny helps keeps things upbeat for patients and parents at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. (Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario)

But at Ottawa's Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, or CHEO, there is one employee who knows how to keep the mood upbeat.

Ruth Cull was an operating room scrub nurse at CHEO for 28 years until she retired two years ago. Now she's a certified clown therapist who cuts it up three days a week as Mollypenny, a character with an electric blue wig, red rubber nose and a bubble wand.

"It's empowering the kid to give them strength so they're not thinking of their illness because they are going through the war zones here," Cull told CBC News.

Casey Ouelette, 12, just finished two years of chemotherapy and 39 blood transfusions to treat her leukemia.

"I just fell in love with her because she was so spunky," Ouelette said. "If you need a joke she'll give you a joke, but sometimes it's like I just need to be alone and she's really good at that."

Denis Nadea's son, Alexandre, has undergone monthly chemotherapy for eight years. Nadea said the character of Molly helps calm both child and parents.

"It's a stress reliever for us also because, you know, you're by their side every second of the time — and then all of a sudden you can step back and take a breather while she's entertaining."

It's not all magic card tricks and jokes for Cull and her Mollypenny character: there are the children who pass away.

"There have been hard moments where you could have a tsunami at any moment," she said. "It's a journey and you do build up relationships."