After Cremation, What Then?

The separate funerals for his parents were in the past, his mom having passed in 2017 and his dad following her in 2019, but Steve had no cemetery plot to visit. His family had opted for cremation following the loss of each parent. Like so many families making this choice, they had the cremation remains, but he felt like something was missing. Without a burial plot, where was the tangible place he could point to that could commemorate his parents’ lives?

Steve was lucky enough to have known Chris Nordin for a lifetime since they grew up attending the same family camp in Wixom, Michigan. Remembering that Chris is a glass artist, Steve approached him with a request to create something simple that incorporated a portion of the cremation remains of each of his parents in a way that keeps the memories alive and present.

A Memory Sphere was created for each parent after Steve chose which two colors would best suit the memories he carries. He chose a light pink and a medium red for his mother’s love of cultivating her rose bushes.

For his father, he chose a light green and a turquoise blue to capture his love of the water and for walking the land. Steve chose to have each sphere hand-etched with the information that would identify who was being memorialized.

Although Chris supplies each Memory Sphere with its own hand-pressed glass pedestal, Steve had the clever idea to elevate them by placing them on candlestick holders. The Memory Spheres have also begun moving between households as Steve has shared them with his sister who currently keeps them in her curio cabinet.

Following cremation, Steve was glad to have found a way to commemorate his parents and keep their memory alive, tangible, and present. He was also very touched by the deeply respectful and kind way that Chris handled the whole project, from receiving the request to delivering the completed Memory Spheres. With the creation of art, Steve joined his memories with the durable beauty and luster of glass to have and to hold, a suitable way to reflect on his parents’ lives.

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