Doggie

 

A couple of weeks back I received an email from a lovely lady looking for a custom ornament.  To be truthful I wasn't taking on any more custom orders since the shop had been so insanely busy already, but I read her request to see what it was she wanted.

It turns out Emily wanted an ornament made of her son's favorite stuffed toy, Doggie. Each year Emily and her family set out to find an ornament for Collin, their little boy who sadly had passed away in May 2010 from complications of the treatment of cancer, he was 2.  Immediately I changed my perspective on Emily's request.  It's not everyday these types of requests come thru.  It is after all, hard to say no to something with this much meaning, but it's also intimidating.  

Would I be able to live up to Emily's hopes of giving her an ornament to help her family remember her little boy?

 

I told her I would try.  And one night I cleared off my worktable and set out free forming Collin's Doggie.

I didn't make a paper pattern to help guide me along.  This had to be one-of-a-kind and something that I wouldn't make again because it would always belong to Collin and his family.

 

I didn't stop working on it.  I didn't want to over do it.

 

And then Doggie was done.

 

I haven't heard back from Emily yet to know what she thought of the ornament, but I don't think it's something that I'll need to wonder.  Some things you just know inside your heart and head already.