These are the display frames that we have up near the fire place. We have most of the stuff from Janell’s box out on display as well as some other things that remind us of her.

Janell’s little urn was a special surprise. The funeral home asked simply is we were a couple with means and when my mom told them no they said we would receive a little wooden box, free of charge. 20 months later, when we finally had the courage to bring Janell’s ashes home, we opened the box to see this beautiful urn in a velvet box. It means so much to us.

We never knew what do do with the special outfits we had bought for Janell as well as the outfit I was wearing when we discovered she has passed. We know we could never use these clothes again. That’s when I met Roxane from Heavenly Hugs Bears. I know this was the answer to what to do with Janell’s clothes. Roxane made these bears for us. The pink one sits on the fireplace with all of Janell’s other things and the green one is Phoenix - a gift from his big sister.

We started a memory garden for Janell when we moved into our new house. We try to find purple flowers to plant there in her memory. This is a stepping stone I made with my loss group that sits near a lavender bush in her garden.

A while back I had asked my brother-in-law if he remembered Janell well enough to draw. It kills me that I can hardly remember her face. He said he would try and for Christmas he gave Ethan and I this drawing. I burst into tears. We never got a family picture with Janell so it means so much to us to have this.