By Cathy Decker
My journey into becoming an entrepreneur is a complicated and tragic story. It all began in 2017 and it was not something I had planned.
On March 9 2017, my daughter, Avery Violet, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in her sleep. She was 13 months old. At the time, Avery was my only child and the centre of my universe. To say that I am heartbroken would be an understatement. My world imploded that dark and snowy day. Everything I knew to be right was shattered.
During the early days of my grief, I felt paralyzed and alone. I truly believed that nobody understood my pain and anguish. To my surprise, this belief changed when a stranger, and fellow bereaved mom, delivered a gift to our home. This gift had a profound impact on me. It changed my grief journey. It was more than the tangible items inside; it was a gift of hope. The kindness I received from a stranger gave me the strength to keep moving forward. The knowledge in knowing I was not alone was and continues to be pivotal in my healing journey.
As time moved forward, I began to hear about other families who were navigating the recent death of a child. My heart broke with them. The crippling feelings of early grief came rushing back to me: I felt compelled to help. I wanted these newly bereaved parents to know that they were not alone and that a community, of bereaved parents, was here to offer support.
I began putting together gift boxes and donating them to all the newly bereaved families I learned about. The boxes contained items that my husband and I had found meaningful and helpful during the early days of our grief.
As time continued to move forward, Avery’s Legacy was born. Avery’s Legacy specializes in creating meaningful gifts that promote a healthy grieving and mourning process. We offer a variety of personalized bereavement boxes that support those who are grieving the death of a grandparent, parent, spouse, sibling, child, pregnancy, relative or friend. We also have specialized bereavement boxes designed to support children and teens through grief.
Avery’s Legacy was created as a way to honour Avery’s memory and support others during times of loss. Over the past 2 years we have been donating our ‘Child Loss’ Bereavement Boxes to newly grieving parents who have recently lost a child aged neonate to 17 years old in the Calgary and Central Alberta area. To date we have donated over 70 boxes
It is our genuine hope that our gift- like the gift we received – acts as a beacon of hope to our fellow bereaved parents.
If you would like to learn more about our story, purchase a Bereavement Box for someone you love, or help us help others, please visit our website www.averyslegacy.com. It takes a village to support a grieving heart and with your help we can expand our reach and donate to even more bereaved parents.
