Saturday, June 9, 2012

Small Memorial

I decided to start Emma's memorial shelf.  I don't have the shelf I want yet, but I have a temporary one.  What pushed me to start the memorial was a custom portrait I received from Shirley Stallings (www.shirleystallings.com).  Shirley is a member of my Forever Pugged yahoo group and I had the joy of meeting her in person at our Pug Meetup last Summer in Vancouver, WA.  She attended and donated a custom portrait to our fundraiser for Pacific Pug Rescue in Portland, Oregon (www.pacificpugrescue.org). 

The portrait couldn't have arrived at a better time.  I had been missing Emma so much with the 2 month anniversary of her passing fast approaching.  When I checked the mail on 5/26 and saw Shirley's name on the package, I got a lump in my throat.  I considered waiting to view it but couldn't open it fast enough!!!  Tears of happiness flowed as I admired Shirley's work.   She drew Emma's ears just right and it's as if I was looking right into my baby girl's eyes.  It's absolutely PERFECT and so precious!!!  Here's a photo of it:

  
Several members of Forever Pugged donated towards the vet expenses I incurred during the week Emma was treated and passed away.  The donations paid the bill in full, which included her necropsy, cremation and a special urn.  For that, I am very appreciative and thankful.  Since the vet who performed the necropsy & cremation placed her ashes inside a pretty blue urn, I decided to use the urn from Forever Pugged members as a keepsake/memory box.  The box is very special.  It has a fawn Pug figurine on the top and her name engraved on the faceplate.  I LOVE it!

I've included photos below of the memorial shelf I started.  The top shelf has the portrait from Shirley, the blanket she was wrapped in the day she passed, her collar and tag along with a candle I received from my friend Shelley H. that was created by Elaine's Creations.  Shelley lost her Pug, Ty, near Christmas.  The second shelf currently has the keepsake/memory box and urn.



The shelf will also have a hinged box with a Pug on it that I received from my friend Sue and a beautiful picture frame with Emma's photo in it from my friend Guylaine.  The pink heart pillow on the hinged box is great because Ems just loved her doggie bed.





My friend Shelly G. gave me a photo keychain that I plan on hanging from my rear view mirror in my car that was made by Shel's Tarts and Crafts.  My friend who just so happens to be the owner of Shel's Tarts and Crafts (Shelley H) also made me magnets of all 3 of my babies =) 


The cards received are appreciated as well.  My friend Mindy R. made a donation in Memory of Emma to Pacific Pug Rescue, which was awesome of her to do!!! I'm so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family in my life.  Words cannot express the love and warmth in my heart that I have felt these last couple months.   Thank you!

3 comments:

  1. It's so beautiful, Mindy! You are very blessed--I am glad that you have so many beautiful things to help you remember Emma! :)

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  2. Thank you for the nice comments and photo. I hope Emma's portrait will be as helpful to you over time as the ones I have done of my own pugs have been for us.
    Shirley

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  3. The portrait is wonderful. You are fortunate that the urn from the vet is pretty. Here, the crematory uses the most horrid tin boxes. For my most recent loss of Quincy, I found a box that looks like a small trunk. That is where I placed his ashes and a few of his things like a blanket with his name on it and his Christmas ornament.
    I think your shelves are great, especially if they help you heal.

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