Sharing Every Possible Moment

“We knew not to take one another for granted, how to look out for one another.”

Catriona and her husband, Brian, had “just clicked” ever since their first date walking around Ann Arbor’s famous Art Fair. They went on enjoying art together, visiting The Detroit Institute of Arts and the Chicago Art Institute. However, Brian, a longtime Tigers fan and season ticket holder, also helped Catriona to enjoy baseball. And Catriona got Brian into paddling on the nearby lakes and rivers. They both found nature offered a sense of calm, reflection, peacefulness, a chance to “feed their souls”, whether paddling or walking their dogs in the woods. From each of their homes, a wooded view was very important and restorative.

It was a second long-term relationship for them both. In making the most of more than 20 years together, they also enjoyed each other’s families. Brian took his nephews to a ball game each year, and treasured this time with them. During the length of their relationship, those nephews grew up and had children of their own and now, following Brian’s passing, are enjoying using Brian’s pre-purchased season tickets to take their own children to the home games.

Catriona and Brian also loved the local music scene together. Brian had a wonderful voice and was part of a group of musicians who played 70s rock as The B-side Band. As a couple, they could also often be found at the famous local Ann Arbor venue, The Ark, to hear musicians from farther away.

Catriona and Brian just appreciated one another’s companionship and lived with mutual love and respect, cherishing their relationship and each other. When Brian passed away suddenly after a brief illness, Catriona knew she wanted to celebrate her time with Brian in a special way. A Memorial Sculpture from Chris Nordin seemed like a creative and beautiful way to do that.

Catriona sat down with Chris to design her memorial sculpture and was struck by how he was able to be both very sympathetic towards her grief and yet very positive in starting their creative project to celebrate Brian. She describes Chris as “friendly, welcoming, casual, sensitive…but upbeat!” She says that Brian would have liked him, too. Catriona says that working with Chris on the sculpture was part of her healing process. 

Catriona knew that Brian would have loved the beautiful Memorial Vases that Chris makes, but when she saw the Memorial Branch design, she knew the rightness of it. Brian had shared a nearly 40-year relationship with a beautiful Sugar Maple that had brilliant leaves every autumn. The colors she chose for the blown glass leaves on her forged metal branch replicate that sun-drenched vibrancy and contain a small portion of Brian’s cremation remains. 

“Everyone thinks it’s a wonderful thing for me to have and very pretty. I’d really recommend Chris because you get a really beautiful memorial from a sensitive and creative person… And now I have a little bit of him close by.”

 Our loves in life are part of what make our lives truly memorable to those we leave behind, whether it’s for a tree or a treasured person.