At Dimples we feel privileged to be able to provide people with meaningful keepsakes, especially when it helps them hold on to a loved one who can no longer be with them. Dimples supports children’s hospitals in North America that are working to provide keepsakes for families who have lost their precious children far too soon. Here are a couple of responses from people who received Dimples through children’s hospitals.
I just wanted to write to let you know how meaningful and comforting the fingerprint charm my family received from you has been. My sister-in-law tragically lost her son to cancer at the age of 8 years. She received a Dimples fingerprint necklace through the Calgary Children’s Hospital. Thank you so much for providing her with this keepsake. She loves the fingerprint charm and treasures it, as do her other children. Every night they rub it before going to bed to remember their son/brother and to feel connected to him still.
There is one particular time when I travelled to another city and personally visited a family in their home to capture their son’s fingerprint impression for their Dimples charms. This occasion deeply impacted me. It was October and they had just moved home from Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto in order to celebrate an early Christmas with their 4 year old son, who would not live to see another Christmas in his life. At the time I had a son the same age. I did all that I could to not weep while I was there imagining myself in their shoes. There was no snow on the ground and it was barely even cold outside, but the Christmas tree was up and their home was festively decorated. It was cozy and beautiful. My visit had been arranged by family friends and the hospital and I did not realize the scene I was stepping into. Connor looked so absolutely perfect! Other than the fact that he had lost his hair and medical apparatuses surrounded him, you would never have known he was sick. He was sleeping peacefully in his Buzz Lightyear pjs, cuddled up in a fuzzy blanket. Luckily, I didn’t disturb him when I took his fingerprint impressions. But I couldn’t contain my sadness when his parents told me their choice for the engraving on the back of the charms, Hope-Strength-Love. He looked so perfect. Would this beautiful boy really not live to see Christmas? I felt so helpless that I couldn’t do more for them, but I hoped that their Dimples charms would provide at least some comfort to them. That year, I was at Church on Christmas Eve and I heard this boy’s name announced as a soul to be prayed for. I hadn’t realized that this child had relatives in our town! I was shocked but it was true; he hadn’t made it. I simply wept in my seat. I later found out that the Dimples charms were delivered on the same day that Connor passed. Below is an email I received from Connor’s dad:
I just want you at Dimples to know how grateful I am for what you did for me and my family. My son Connor suffered greatly with cancer at the young age of 4. Before he passed, Dimples fingerprint charms were made for us. I wear my necklace every day. It is a great source of strength for me. When I’m having bad days I repeat the words inscribed on the back of the charm, ‘Hope-Strength-Love.’ I kiss it each time I put it around my neck in the morning. From the bottom of my heart thank you!
