Zach's Memorial Family Tree
This piece was made for Zach's mom, Melissa, about 7 weeks after his tragic death at the age of 22. His birthstone is aquamarine and he is represented by the aqua pieces of glass, Melissa is represented by the purple pieces of glass and her birthstone is amethyst. There's so much to this piece it's hard to know where to begin. It took me a week to create as I kept feeling Melissa's pain and kept having to put the work down because of it. I could only go in one small stage at a time as I'd be overwhelmed by grief and heartache.
I had had the branch stripped and varnished for about a year and a half just waiting for the right piece to use it on. I kept picking it up and putting it back down saying nope, that's not right yet. I didn't know what I was waiting for until I heard Melissa's story. Then I knew, immediately that it was meant for her and this piece.
The left side of the piece and the upward curve of the branch represent his growing up years when Melissa was the center of his life.
The center section represents the pinnacle of Zach's life, when he and his mother operated as "a team". The red stone and the rose quartz hanging from it both represent the love they felt for one another. It also represents how he was struck down at the height of his youth - at the very top of his life, the cruelest blow ever.
Then the branch curves down, representing Melissa's decent into grief and despair. The pieces hanging on the right represent Melissa but also that Zach is still with her and will always be a part of her. Hanging from her purple pieces of glass are amethyst stones which represent sobriety and feminine power. Sobriety meaning the ability to see clearly, which with time she will be able to do, and the power within her to get through this tragic event. She has it within her, whether she realizes it right now or not, to continue on, and live a happy life.
The last part is perhaps the hardest part to explain. At the end of the branch there is a slight upturn, just a small indication of an upward slant. There I placed a green piece of glass for green is the color of healing. This stone is meant to give Melissa the permission to heal when she is ready to begin that process. Not now. Maybe not next week. But when she is ready. Too often in our world today we are so uncomfortable with grief, with the raw pain someone feels when we lose a loved one that we want them to "hurry up and heal". This piece of glass is not meant to speed that process. On the contrary, it is meant to give her all the time she needs to grieve and then, only when she is ready, she can begin to heal. And not. One. Second. Sooner.
Hanging from that healing piece of green glass is phrenite, which represents unconditional love - the unconditional love Melissa feels and will always feel for Zach. Although he is no longer with her in physical form, he will always be with her in her heart and in spirit form, watching over her until they meet again in whatever comes after our time on this blue globe of ours. Also hanging from it is peridot, a powerful healing stone, meant to help her on her healing journey for it IS a journey, not an event.
Losing a child is not something I can comprehend and I told Melissa at the onset of this project that I would never say anything as stupid as "I understand" because unless it has happened to you, you CAN'T possibly comprehend it. What I do know is that I felt an echo of some of her pain that was strong enough to drive me away from the workshop on a daily basis - making me put the pieces down at a stopping point, retreating to the safety of the house. For Melissa, there is no retreating from that pain. For anyone reading this, who is moved by this story as I was, please remember Melissa in your meditations, your prayers, your rituals, or your daily walks, whatever it is that you do to commune with that which is greater than ourselves. Remember her and her son Zach so that she may reach that time when she is ready to heal and can take one step on that life-long journey toward healing.
Melissa, I wish you well as you walk into this new and forever changed world in which you find yourself.
Peace,
Leslie
I had had the branch stripped and varnished for about a year and a half just waiting for the right piece to use it on. I kept picking it up and putting it back down saying nope, that's not right yet. I didn't know what I was waiting for until I heard Melissa's story. Then I knew, immediately that it was meant for her and this piece.
The left side of the piece and the upward curve of the branch represent his growing up years when Melissa was the center of his life.
The center section represents the pinnacle of Zach's life, when he and his mother operated as "a team". The red stone and the rose quartz hanging from it both represent the love they felt for one another. It also represents how he was struck down at the height of his youth - at the very top of his life, the cruelest blow ever.
Then the branch curves down, representing Melissa's decent into grief and despair. The pieces hanging on the right represent Melissa but also that Zach is still with her and will always be a part of her. Hanging from her purple pieces of glass are amethyst stones which represent sobriety and feminine power. Sobriety meaning the ability to see clearly, which with time she will be able to do, and the power within her to get through this tragic event. She has it within her, whether she realizes it right now or not, to continue on, and live a happy life.
The last part is perhaps the hardest part to explain. At the end of the branch there is a slight upturn, just a small indication of an upward slant. There I placed a green piece of glass for green is the color of healing. This stone is meant to give Melissa the permission to heal when she is ready to begin that process. Not now. Maybe not next week. But when she is ready. Too often in our world today we are so uncomfortable with grief, with the raw pain someone feels when we lose a loved one that we want them to "hurry up and heal". This piece of glass is not meant to speed that process. On the contrary, it is meant to give her all the time she needs to grieve and then, only when she is ready, she can begin to heal. And not. One. Second. Sooner.
Hanging from that healing piece of green glass is phrenite, which represents unconditional love - the unconditional love Melissa feels and will always feel for Zach. Although he is no longer with her in physical form, he will always be with her in her heart and in spirit form, watching over her until they meet again in whatever comes after our time on this blue globe of ours. Also hanging from it is peridot, a powerful healing stone, meant to help her on her healing journey for it IS a journey, not an event.
Losing a child is not something I can comprehend and I told Melissa at the onset of this project that I would never say anything as stupid as "I understand" because unless it has happened to you, you CAN'T possibly comprehend it. What I do know is that I felt an echo of some of her pain that was strong enough to drive me away from the workshop on a daily basis - making me put the pieces down at a stopping point, retreating to the safety of the house. For Melissa, there is no retreating from that pain. For anyone reading this, who is moved by this story as I was, please remember Melissa in your meditations, your prayers, your rituals, or your daily walks, whatever it is that you do to commune with that which is greater than ourselves. Remember her and her son Zach so that she may reach that time when she is ready to heal and can take one step on that life-long journey toward healing.
Melissa, I wish you well as you walk into this new and forever changed world in which you find yourself.
Peace,
Leslie