Something that became very important to us, once SMA entered our lives, was having experiences. We wanted Blake to experience absolutely everything that she safely could. Jeff and I are still determined to experience more in this life, because our bodies allow us to. We feel we owe that to our youngest daughter. We want to bring Kenley along and we want to bring Blake, too. We believe Blake is in our hearts, always with us, wherever we go. But we also wanted something that would physically represent her.

Artful Ashes is a company we came across in the loads of paperwork given to us during Blake’s end of life planning. They take some of the ashes of your loved one and create a custom glass piece. We decided this would be a perfect way to bring Blake along with us. We were able to pick out the colors and shape we wanted. Blake’s funeral home separated out a small amount of her ashes, so we didn’t have to. We scheduled a viewing appointment at Artful Ashes so we could be present when her piece was created.

When we got there, I found out I could actually be the one to spread her ashes before the glass picked them up. It was a very special-  and a very difficult-  moment for me; I hadn’t seen any of Blake’s ashes before then. We followed along during the whole process and really got to be a part of it. It truly is amazing, how they create such beautiful pieces. I think I need to let the pictures speak for themselves.

We pick up Blakey’s heart piece next week.

It’s experiences like this that are absolutely horrible, since we do them because Blake is gone. But, while they’re terrible, they’re also good because it is something we can do for her. It’s also another addition to our deep connection with her.

The colors will look different once it completely cooled

My mom came with us too