Meaningful gifts are priceless.
I saw this firsthand when a client emailed me a video of her mom opening her Christmas present.
That present was a Memory Quilt. One that we created and crafted for her out of her husband’s clothing.
Her husband that is no longer with us.
During my first organizing session in 2010, I asked my client why there were so many men’s clothes in her closet. Clothes that were not her husbands. She said, “Those belonged to _____.”
When I inquired as to who that was, she said “____ was my oldest son. He was driving to our house a few years ago to take his nieces trick-or-treating for Halloween. We were on the phone talking and I heard a terrible noise. He was hit head on that night and died instantly.”
After the funeral, it was time to clear the contents of his apartment and my client could not bring herself to part with his clothing. So she packed it all up and took it to her house where they lived in her closet of four years.
Her and her husband were now ready to take back control of their lives and their home. They were ready to grieve in a way that respected his memory rather than destroy their family.
We packed up his clothes and turned them into a quilt. The space was made in her closet and she was reminded of her son every time she cozied up on the couch with her quilt.
Gifts with meaning are priceless.
