Remembrance Tree

Of course you all know by now how many Tree of Life pendants I make. But this one’s personal and different and I wanted to share because of it’s meaning to me.

To recap, in February, our best friend, Rand, suddenly, out of nowhere had to call 911. Turns out he had a complete tear in his aorta. This is the main “pipeline” from your heart to all your organs. He had 9 hours of emergency surgery followed by a week of medical sedation. Unfortunately, after that, he failed to wake up and was in a coma for a week before finally succumbing to internal bleeding and heart failure. He passed away March 13th.

To say this was shocking and awful for us is of course, putting it mildly. However, his poor mom already lost her youngest son, Michael, about ten years ago from complications with MS. She had two children and has now lost them both.

Rand’s birthday is coming up this Friday, July 30th. This will be the first since his passing. July’s birthstone is Ruby. Michael was born in February which the birthstone is amethyst. With Rand’s birthday coming up, I wanted to make something for his mom. I was lucky to find some 4mm genuine ruby beads online. Ruby being a precious gem is typically quite pricey. Amethyst is semi-precious and easier to find, so I got some coordinating 4mm beads as well.

I used sterling silver wire and created this remembrance tree which I plan to give her on Friday.

I truly hope that it helps her remember both of them warmly and have a way to keep them around her in some small way. I also tried to put as much love and positive energy into the piece and I hope she can feel that support as well when she wears it.