Memory wall

One of my favorite places in my home is in the front room. You cant miss it when you walk in the front door. It's a memory wall I have created. It's taken a while to get it all done, but it has been well worth the effort. I absolutely love it.

The first thing I did was a memory box with the dress, hat, booties and blankets Sarah was placed in at the hospital. I also added a copy of her hand and foot prints as well as the bear and head bow they gave her. After I had everything placed where I wanted it it still needed something so I added some flowers to the hat, in the bears hand and on the sides. These flowers also have special meaning because I found them in some of my grandmas crafting stuff! Jared's sister Stephanie sent us a picture of Jesus holding a baby. It was absolutely perfect! We hung it on the wall above the shadow box.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a good picture of a shadow box!! You get a reflection of EVERYTHING!

Next I made a shadow box with the flowers from Sarah's funeral. I wasn't sure how I was going to make it work. After we dried the flowers I sprayed them with a flower preserver. Then I put them in two bundles and tied a bow around it. I was so afraid they were going to crumble, but they didn't! Then I put the ribbon from the flowers from her casket, Jared's boutonniere, my corsage, and the flower from each of the boys around the two bundles. Then between the two bundles I put the precious flower Jared placed in her hand for the pictures. Above that I put a precious saying my sweet neighbor Alicia gave me on the one year anniversary of Sarah's day. I love it!

It Says "You may be gone from my sight, but you are never gone from my heart!"

I wanted a living plant on memory of Sarah so during the summer I bought a mini peach rose bush to put on the shelf. Well, I do not have a green thumb to say the least and that blasted plant got some kind of mini spider infestation that killed it within a month. :( So I opted for some silk flowers. Hobby Lobby has a beautiful selection so I  picked out some that reminded me of her. It took several different trips because lets face it, they aren't cheap! Luckily every time I went in they were on sale half off!! I got some glass rocks, ribbon, and a tall vase and this is what I came up with. If you look close enough there are six butterfly's, one for each of the early losses (to read that background click here) and one for Sarah (her story) (edited pictures here). I am so pleased with how it turned out!

On the same shelf as the flowers is the beautiful figurine that my dad and Terry gave us when we lost Sarah. It's so fitting.

We also have this ship. Honestly, its been on this shelf for years because Jared loves it. I've been trying to figure out somewhere else to put it when it hit me how fitting is is to be here. The mortuary sent us a card and it had a poem in it about a ship sailing (to read the poem, click here).

Then lastly a photo. A photo that tells what my heart feels. ALL of my children are represented here. Those living and those on the other side. Each shadow represents an approximate age that they would be if they were here. I don't know the gender of five of them, but I threw some girls in there anyway! My heart tells me some of them had to be! Isaac wasn't cooperating very well for the picture. You can see him clear in the back between Jacob and John. As much as I love this picture, I've decided I need a new one. It just looks dark on the shelf and I hope to get one with Isaac more cooperative. I've also decided to use pictures of my living kids and turn them into shadows to personalize it a little better. I may even add Jared and me to the picture, we'll see.

And there you have it. My memory wall!

En Voyage

The poem the mortuary sent us

There's a ship sailing on to a harbor,
To a haven of comfort and rest;
It's a ship of God's fashion and making,
And its voyage by Him will be blest.
It departed with silence and beauty,
With the Master, Himself, in command;
As with dignity truly majestic
It sailed out of sight of all land.

There will always be clear skies above it;
There will always be calmness below;
There will never be storms to harass it,
For the Master is on it, you know,
And His wisdom will carry it safely
To the port of His infinite peace,
Where the light of His love will protect it
With a blessing that never will cease.

You have watched it sail onward and outward,
with a tear of regret in your eye,
For a loved one was sailing, upon it,
And there's grief when you're saying goodby.
But your tears would be tears of rejoicing,
And your heart would be happy and free,
If you could look for only a moment
On that ship that is sailing to sea.


For the one you have loved is at leisure,
With no worry or trouble or care;
There's contentment beyond understanding,
In the way God's passengers fare.
And you'd know from your own observation
That the sailing was joyful - not grim,
For it means a new life and new living,
And a sweet, closer contact with Him.

Oh, the solace there is in the knowledge,
Life is life and it always will be,
And it's simply a change of direction
When we sail on His ship out to sea.
And the tears that we shed for our loved ones
Are in truth shed for us left behind,
For it hurts to give up to the Master,
Tho we know He is gentle and kind.

So believe in His great and good wisdom,
Trust in Him, as you patiently wait;
On His ship God is ever the pilot,
And the one you have loved is the mate.