We've added this page to our web site with items we've never offered before - unique bereavement items to give as gifts or mementos. And we'll tell you a little story about each product. In fact, as we add new items to Expressions... gifts & mementos, we'll tell you how we found them, and why we like them.
We hope you will like them too.

My Brother Dave by Kris Linner

While watching her own children struggle with her brother's death, author Kris linner realized that there are not enough resources to help children name their feelings throughout the grief process.  By speaking openly with her daughters about her own feelings, Kris was able to show them the way to name their feelings and to help their healing begin.It is the author's hope that this book will help other children work through the pain of grief.

Devyn Has Cancer, a Tale of Two Angels by Carole Edland, D.Min., RN, Grandmother.
Why do bad things happen to good people? Carole Edland lost her granddaughter, Devyn Marie Doughty, on March 2, 2002. Almost ten years old when she died, Devyn battled cancer for 6 years - more than half of her life. While Devyn struggled through chemo, often with her grandmother for company, the two decided to write and illustrate a book to tell Devyn's story. Instilled with Devyn's spirit, this book may be helpful in imparting spiritual understanding. Especially for children.

Fallen Leaf Print
Late in 2004, Rana Limbo, our director, received a call from Kim Ammon, a mother whose son, Logan Nash, was stillborn September 16, 2004. Kim and her husband Erik delivered Logan, their second son and younger brother to Tristan (age 2), at a RTS hospital in the Milwaukee area. They noticed the leaf and teardrop on materials they received from the supportive staff who cared for them. Finding the image comforting, Kim called us to ask if they could purchase a print of the leaf and teardrop to serve as a focal point in their living room. (Click here).

"My hope is that someone else will be able to find peace in a similar way my family was able to," said Kim. That is our hope as well.

Threads of Remembrance
The grief support staff for the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Program at Meriter Hospital in Madison, WI, was frustrated dressing babies who died in gowns "cut down" from commercial patterns. The gowns were too large, too small, or disproportionate, and the gown designs made it difficult to preserve the integrity of baby's fragile skin.

Sally Evans, Women's Health Administration at Meriter, and a seamstress herself, contacted the UW-Madison School of Human Ecology seeking their expertise. The instructors were eager to accept the unusual challenge. They created several gown designs based on input from grief support staff, parents, and seamstresses. Students in the Textile and Apparel Design program experimented with styles, fabrics, and gown closures using correct proportions for neonates of various gestational ages. The instructors named the class Threads of Remembrance, since many of the grieving parents kept the gowns as a memento. Over the years, this project was embraced and supported. Threads of Remembrance gown patterns are now available to other hospitals.

Healing Hearts Cards
Creating a space for grief, loss & transition
While searching for a Father’s Day card for her nephews to acknowledge their loss – in a moment she describes as “true inspiration” – Camille Conte realized the need for greeting cards for people who are grieving.

“Our cards fill a void by recognizing the many passages people go through long after the funeral of their loved one is over and the sympathy cards have been put away,” says Conte, who believes that the inspiration for the cards was a “gift,” and now her part is to connect the cards with the people who need them the most.

“Healing Hearts Cards help include the bereaved in everyday card-giving moments so they know that their unique loss is respected by someone who cares. Our cards aren’t about fixing – they’re about acknowledging.”