Our Story...

We are a mother and daughter team who share a profound loss.  In 1997, my mom lost her oldest daughter and I lost my sister, Kelly, to metastatic melanoma at the age of 25.  She died just 4 months after diagnosis, and 5 years after being mis-diagnosed by a dermatologist.  Kelly left behind two small children, which made the loss even harder.  How would those children ever know what a great Mom they had?  And how would we keep her memory alive in our ever changing family.

My mom and I set out searching for a book we could use to record Kelly's memory.  Something we could use to keep her close to our hearts, and to help her children never forget their mother.  However, to our surprise and disappointment, nothing existed.

We decided to write our own journal detailing the facts of her life; hobbies, passions, words she lived by, and other details that made her who she was.  Our goal was to put something together that would cement her place in our family for us, and for future generations.  Also a book that would give anyone who read it a sense of who she was, a book they could read, and by the end of the book they would be able to say, “Wow, she sounded like a great person.”  We felt everyone should be able to have their story told and preserved for future generations, and so with this thought in mind, olivejuice designs was born.  We are humbled and proud do this in Kelly's memory.

We hope you find these gifts as special as we do.  Everyone has a story, and everyone’s story should be told.  Everyone’s story is important.

Our Name...

Several of our friends and family members have asked us how we came up with the name olivejuice designs.  After much thought along the traditional route, we decided that this option suited us the best.  In a movie I saw a long time ago, a mother mouthed the words, "olive juice" to her daughter.  It was a running theme throughout the movie.  When you mouth the words "olive juice" it looks like you are saying "I love you".  It struck a cord with me and I never forgot it.  In theory, we are "I love you" designs.  The name speaks to our heart, because that is how we feel about Kelly, and how we feel about others who share a similar loss.  

When you suffer a profound loss, it changes you forever.  You feel a special connection to others who share a loss that is unspeakable.  What we are doing is from our heart.  We hope that in some small way we can help to bring a sense of Peace to your life after such a loss.

A post script...

Since our business olivejuice Designs has opened,  I've been moved more than ever to do what I can to help educate people about the risk of sun exposure, tanning beds, and the importance of taking an active part in their health care.

Five years after a trip to the dermatologist Kelly began having chronic bronchitis.  Her family Dr. put her on antibiotics and the bronchitis cleared up, only to return a couple weeks later.  After being on and off antibiotics for 6 months her Dr. ordered a chest x-ray.  
We never dreamed in a million years what they would find on that x-ray. 

...a growth...   

What did that mean?  She was 25 years old, how does a 25 year old get a growth in her lung?  We found out all to quickly.  Many more tests were ordered and before we knew what was happening she was having surgery to remove the middle lobe of her left lung!  We were stunned. What came after that was even more horrific.  

...Melanoma... 

What IS melanoma?  We had never heard of it.  We were given the Cliff notes of melanoma and very quickly understood what this meant. We were not, however, prepared for her death

four. months. later.
 
In the twelve years since that happened I think we've come a long way in educating the public about the dangers of sun exposure and tanning beds...but not far enough.

Kelly's dermatologist dismissed the mole on her back as nothing which resulted in a senseless and tragic death, Melanoma is curable if detected early and treated promptly.

To us her death was even more tragic because we all knew that if the dermatologist had recognized that mole as melanoma, she could have gotten prompt treatment and probably would have survived.   Had we done more research when she first visited the dermatologist and asked more questions she may still be alive and enjoying her children.  We didn't know what questions to ask!  

I've created a "mini-website" dedicated to melanoma information and resources.  I hope that people will spend some time reading about prevention, and treatment options and pass this site on to everyone they know.  Learn to be an active participant in your health care, ask questions, do a little research, it could save your life or the life of someone you love!
You can find the web site here:  http://squidoo.com/melanoma-information

  


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