Grief can find you in the smallest things.
A smell. A place. A song. A drink. Waking up on a sunny morning and suddenly remembering a happy moment, smiling before the sadness catches up.
Sometimes it’s a piece of advice you can still hear.
Sometimes it’s a hug you wish you could have again.
My auntie once told me, “Life goes on. You don’t stop. You have to keep moving.”
I didn’t understand then how much those words would come to mean.
Because life really does carry on, even when your heart wants it to stop.
It won’t be long until another year has passed, and I will still hear your voice and your laugh, Patch.
Nights in walkabout, bumping the car, laughing at my own piano tune you thought sounded creepy.
Little moments that meant nothing extraordinary at the time now feel priceless.
And then Christmas will come.
A whole year without you, Dad.
I miss your sense of humour. The calmness in your voice. Opening the biscuit tin while we had our tea.
I miss the ordinary things most.
And then, not long after that, another year will have passed since losing my auntie, who always put others before herself.
I miss our daily texts.
The kindness in your eyes.
Even that disapproving voice shouting, “Myfanwy!”
I would give anything to hear it again.
You told me life goes on.
You don’t stop.
You have to live through the pain to move forward.
I’m beginning to understand that moving forward doesn’t mean leaving you behind.
It means carrying you with me.
The houses will be sold. The walls will be decorated. The streets will change. New memories will be made.
But the places you once filled will always hold pieces of you.
In photographs on my wall, in stories I will tell, in the things you taught me and in the moments when I suddenly smile because I remember.
Time doesn’t stand still.
So I will keep moving.
I will live through the pain, just as you told me to.
And I will carry every part of you that I can.
Your laughter.
Your kindness.
Your humour.
Your advice.
Your memories.
Everything you left behind.
Because life goes on and I take you with me always
A place for the memories
When someone we love is no longer here, the things they left behind can become incredibly precious.
A photograph. A handwritten note. A piece of jewellery. A ticket from a special day. A card. A small keepsake that nobody else would understand, but means everything to you.
That’s why I wanted to create something that gives those memories a place to be kept.
I can create personalised memory boxes, made especially for you or someone you love, a beautiful place to keep the little pieces of someone that make them feel close.
Because sometimes it’s the smallest things that bring them back.
And sometimes, having somewhere safe to keep those things is everything.
A box for the memories. A place for the love. A little piece of them to keep forever.