When love is involved, it doesn’t matter the circumstance or distance between two people. Love is the most powerful energy of all. Once you give your love to someone and someone gives their love to you, you will forever be connected.
You may be reading this story because you have one of my suncatchers, or you may just be curious about my story. Whatever reason brought you here, I want to share how my suncatchers came to be.
For those who don’t know my story, I want to share a little bit about my past so you can get caught up to where we are now. A little over 2.5 years ago, my husband Wes passed away. He had been sick for 2 years prior to his passing and spent the last 3 months of his life in hospital. His battle was long and exhausting, but he fought right up until the end.
Those last 3 months were the most difficult on our family. Wes was in hospital an hour away from where we lived, our daughter was one and a half years old and we were still facing restrictions because of Covid. Aubrey wasn’t able to visit Wes in the hospital because of the hospital restrictions, I was splitting my days between being with Wes and being with Aubrey and our family and friends couldn’t be around us because we couldn’t risk Wes catching anything, not even a small cold. Our family was in isolation, only seeing my parents, while we faced the most challenging months of our lives.
Wes and I were managing the best we could, making the most of each day. We tried to keep our family unit strong despite being in the situation we were in. We would Face Time when we were apart and we would make videos for each other so we had something to watch in between. It wasn’t ideal, but it was all we could do.
When Wes and I were together, we would spend a lot of time talking about the future. We would talk about the things we were going to do as a family, as a couple and individually. We would talk about the trips we wanted to go on, the projects we wanted to start and the ways we wanted to help support others who were facing difficult situations like ourselves. Planning these things helped take our minds off the current situation and gave us hope for the future.
When we would talk about the things we wanted to do to offer support to others, Wes’s face would light up. He would have a smile from ear to ear, beaming with excitement. Every time we would talk about the future, you could feel a sense of peace wash over him. We would talk for hours about all of the ways we would give back, the projects we would create, the connections we would make. I laugh now thinking of some of the ideas we came up with, our dreams were gigantic with nothing stopping us.
During one of our afternoon chats, I asked Wes what would be one thing that would make him feel more connected to Aubrey since they were physically apart. After a few minutes he told me he would love to have a beautiful suncatcher hanging in the window. Something that he could look at often and be reminded of her. Aubrey loved and still loves rainbows, so the colourful suncatcher would be the perfect way to remind Wes of her. As we talked, that idea snowballed into a bigger idea. We talked about how we could make them for others separated in hospital so they could be connected to their loved ones. We went back and forth adding detail after detail. Before we knew it, we had come up with another project that we could add to our list.
After that conversation, I had Aubrey paint a few dollar store suncatchers that hung in Wes’s window so that he could be reminded of her. At the time I didn’t realize that our suncatcher idea would become something more.
Fast forward to this past summer, Aubrey was gifted a diamond art kit for her birthday. Together her and I created the little picture and put it in the frame. Aubrey loved it, a picture she made that was full of diamonds, it’s every girls dream! Seeing how much Aubrey loved this project, I decided to look for more for her to do. While on my search I came across little diamond art keychains, I had fun helping Aubrey with her project so I figured I’d get a few for myself to make as well. Aubrey was in summer camp at this time and had moments where she missed me. I thought the keychains could go on her backpack and when she missed me, she could look at the keychain and feel my love. At this time, I wasn’t thinking about the suncatchers Aubrey had made for Wes or the idea that him and I came up with. I was focused on finding more kits for Aubrey and myself.
A few days later my diamond art kit came in the mail and away I went working on the keychain. I finished it, sealed it and attached it to Aubrey’s backpack ready for another week of camp. She loved it and I had enjoyed making the keychain, it was something I could do at night that helped me relax. So, back online I went to see what other kits I could find.
During my search I came across a suncatcher kit, still not thinking about our idea, I added it to cart. I thought we could hang the suncatchers in our tree to brighten up our yard. A few days later the suncatcher kit arrived, I was so excited to get started so I immediately opened the box. I pulled every item out onto the table to see what I was working with. As I looked down at all of the items the thought of Wes and I came flooding to the front of my mind. Our conversation replaying as if I was sitting with him in that very moment. I was hit with so many emotions all at once, excitement, shock, fear, confusion, sadness, disbelief. One of the most meaningful ideas Wes came up with was now a possibility.
I immediately went back online and searched other suncatcher diamond art kits to see what else I could find. Sure enough, the internet didn’t let me down, there were tons of options for me to choose from. I ordered a few more kits and then got to work. I diamond arted, yes arted, my life away, stamping each diamond and placing it onto the shape. I couldn’t wait to get one done so I could see our vision come to life. Before I knew it, I had a fully completed suncatcher hanging in my hands, exactly as Wes described it.
From there, idea after idea came to me as I created the full project, finalizing every detail. Before I knew it, I had the perfect suncatcher ready to be gifted to those who need it. What started out as a dollar store project, has now become one of the best projects I have created.
So, if you are someone who has one of our suncatchers, we hope it brings you a little bit of comfort. Whether you have one because you lost a loved one or because you have been separated from your loved ones because of an illness, we hope your suncatcher reminds you that you are always connected to them by love, because when love is involved, it doesn’t matter the circumstance or distance between two people. Love is the most powerful energy of all. Once you give your love to someone and someone gives their love to you, you will forever be connected.
Tayler xoxo
There are two types of suncatchers.
Our Love Catchers are for those separated from their loved ones due to illness or treatment. Our Ever After Love Catchers are for those who have lost a loved one.
Both connecting you to your loved one not matter the circumstances.
