Grief is a funny thing. It’s sneaky. You can be fine for ages, months, maybe even years, and then something reminds you. Reminds you, you can’t pick up the phone and call them, hear their voice. You can’t ask them a question, even though they (fount of all knowledge) would know the answer.
Other times you can sit with a friend or family and get lost in a sea of memories of them, happy ones, that lifts your heart.
I know my grief for my mum is like that. Hell we even managed some very teary giggles at her funeral when we put the last track on for laughs – Fat Bottomed Girls by Queen. I mean, if our family had an anthem…
I also think it can hit some people in a more poignant way. Take my sister for example. She had her baby (my now not so small nephew) ten days before our mum died. And thanks to a particularly snowy year (thanks climate change), our mum never got to meet him.
Not only that, but the one person she would normally have relied on for advice was gone. She couldn’t pick up the phone and ask about every sniffle, niggle or worry. Nor could she share all the happy things – first steps, first words, first day at school. It brings an extra layer to her grief that I don’t have.
So this year for my sister’s 40th birthday, I wanted to do something a bit special for her. Not only because she now joins me in the other side of 39, but because I remembered all the times that it hit a little harder for her. The times she desperately missed her, or wished Mum was there to share with.
Thanks to Lovelox, I had the opportunity.
Lovelox create lockets – jewellery in silver, gold, rose gold, that you can personalise. Not only can they be engraved, but you can also add up to two photographs. Not the old style cut out, squeezed in, hope you don’t trim off too much of their face, hope it doesn’t fall out type, but digitally. Online you can shrink the image, tilt it, help it fit neatly into the space.
Lovelox offered me a discount to create something for her. I picked a locket, and added two images. One of my mum and our Grandpa (one we all have framed at home) and a second one of our Nanan that was rediscovered recently. I then added a small inscription on the back.
I adjusted the images to fit the locket, and picked the style of script on the back. And selected the length of chain – if like me you prefer a longer chain, you have that option.
Whilst my sister doesn’t wear jewellery often, I wanted this to be something for those days where she needed it. So she could have my mum, and our grandparents, close to her heart. Whether it be a sad day, or a good day, she’d have them there, with her when she needed them.
Does she like it? I hope so. And I hope it brings her a little love when she needs it.