Alva Review-Courier -

GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) — Kalli and Camie Bowman lost their grandmother just hours after they painted their heart-shaped worry stones.

Their mother, Jennifer, took them down to Hands on Pottery to take their minds off things. A hospice center isn't the most nurturing place for 11 and 9-year-old girls.

It was a difficult time for the whole family.

Camie picked out a cross to paint for her grandmother along with the worry stone. She painted it a shade of light purple, a color that reminded her of her grandmother.

Kalli chose an angel, to represent her grandmother who would watch over her as she grew up.

"I knew she collected crosses and I wanted to paint something to remember her," Camie said.

Before she died, their grandmother told the girls to keep the mementos instead of placing them in a coffin. She told them keep them on their nightstands or in their backpacks.

"It calms me down," Camie said. "It makes me feel like she's with me."

HEARTS FOR THE SOULS

Almost everything that Michele Thara does at Hands on Pottery is in one way or another inspired by her grandfather.

"A lot of the things we do here were things that I grew up with," Thara said, scanning the shelves of her shop that held hundreds of handmade ceramics, jewelry and other items like bowls, coffee mugs and plates.

For more than five years, Thara has donated her time, effort and materials to the Close to Home Hospice center in Gillette, making thousands of heart-shaped worry stones for families saying goodbye to their loved ones.

They're small, delicate reminders that relatives carry with them to remember family members.

"They're something you could carry in your pocket," Thara said. "For women, it's something to have in their purse ..."

Then Thara stopped and stared off beyond the shelves and her shop.

It was her grandfather. The memories of him were coming back to her.

She sat silent for a full five seconds, tears welling in her eyes.

"I would have given anything to have had something like that when my grandpa had passed," she said.

Thara's grandfather used to remind little Michele that when you find a penny, pick it up. It could be used for good luck.

Thara remembers saving as much change as she could and storing it in her piggy bank.

Now, when people come to Hands on Pottery to make or paint a piggy bank, she always makes sure to put a small amount of change in their banks.

Thara doesn't have any physical mementos to honor her grandfather. He died 22 years ago. She holds on to a few old photos, but that's all she has.

For that reason and others, she said she is honored to be part of special and sensitive process for families dealing with loss.

"It's so important to me that these are done right because of the whole (idea) of it," she said.

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HEART

Melisa Haddix is social service and bereavement coordinator at Campbell County Health's Home Health and Hospice.

More than five years ago, Haddix had the idea of ordering the hearts, made out of clay, painted and fired in a kiln.

Haddix calls them feeling hearts. Hospice first started using them with children as a way for them to feel more comfortable talking about their emotions.

Over time, the hearts were used for every age as something to remember loved ones by.

Haddix started out ordering the hearts for a pretty penny. When Thara heard about the idea of the worry stones and what hospice was spending, she immediately stepped in to offer her services.

Thara makes all the hearts with clay, rolls them and shapes them.

Every month, a group of volunteers from the hospital and hospice go to Thara's shop to paint.

The hearts are used for a variety of grieving exercises.

Haddix said sometimes families share the hearts with their loved ones before they pass and other times they're given as mementos afterward.

When a patient dies, his or her stone can go to a surviving family member, and that family member's stone can go into the casket and be buried or cremated with the person who died.

"They're used to express what they love about each other," Haddix said. "It's a symbol of the love that will always be with them."

The volunteer program went away for a few years, Haddix said, but it picked back up again about six months ago.

"I think they're a great symbol of the life that was lived," Haddix said. "(The families) keep them as a linking object as a loved one."

Remembering in more ways

The feeling arts are not the only way Thara hopes to help people remember their loved ones.

At her shop, she uses fused glass pieces like medallions, plates, centerpieces and any other decoration or jewelry piece and infuses ashes from cremation services.

Anything that Thara can make with fused glass, she can add ashes to it and only charges one sixth of the retail price.

The Bowman family just happened to come across Michele and the worry stones. Jennifer said that all that was planned was to have a relaxing and distracting day away from the hospice.

"It was really good for them," Jennifer said. "They were able to sit around and talk to each other about what they were feeling."

A random afternoon activity turned into a lifelong memento that will be treasured forever.

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Information from: The Gillette (Wyo.) News Record, http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com