A memorial journal for Judy

A very close, supportive, and caring friend recently lost her mother. 

She had been there for me when my Ryan died, and had a suggestion that helped me tremendously to cope with not having him by my side.

Her suggestion was to write to him.  And I did, repeatedly.
 

Long, tear stained letters.

Quick funny notes about something that had happened and I knew that he’d enjoy laughing at with me.

A jotted down memory.

Stories of what I’d done that day, or how many steps I got, what we had for dinner.

A simple, “I miss you.”

Maybe writing to her mother could help my friend with her own grief.  So I made a book for that holds pockets and envelopes to place writings or mementos, little stacks of note paper, pages to write in or add photos to.

The book is a planner from Michaels that had mostly blank pages, but also some printed ones with prompts for journaling.  On this page, I wrote words about Judy that her daughter used when talking about her in a memorial she had written about her love of family.

I printed the paragraphs out and placed them in the book too.

Then I found Facebook photos to print and added a few to some pages.  Not too many, the book is mostly blank for her to use as she’d like.

My friend is a stained glass artist with a bright, bohemian style, so I tried to make the journal in cheerful colors she would like.

The front cover is one of my pour paintings, cut up and glued on.

After seeing how kind everyone was to me after my son died, I pledged to be a better friend.  Honestly, there is nothing anyone can do to make things better when you lose a loved one.  But showing that they care and reaching out does ease the pain.  So I wanted to do this for my pal, and I hope that writing to her mom helps her get through this.