My sweet Uncle Jim died on April 6th. He suffered with cancer the last eight months of his life.
During his 63 years on Earth, Uncle Jim was many things. I wanted to create something, that represented his life. With my Aunt Esther's help, I came up with a list of words that were important to Jim's life. This was my memorial to him.
First, I chose to do the names of the most important people in his life: Jim, Esther, and William. Then, the relationships he had: husband, father, friend, brother, uncle, cousin, and son. Next, I wanted to represent the roles he had in his life: a veteran, missionary, writer, believer, friend, and counselor. Finally, I wanted to choose the adjectives I felt described him best: gentle, caring, and kind.
Using a variety of fonts, I cut these out of vinyl, on my Silhouette. I used the negative part of the vinyl to create a stencil. I carefully arranged the words to the board I'd prepainted navy blue.
After attaching all the vinyl to the board and rubbing it down well, I painted the words cream. I let the paint dry completely and then removed most of the vinyl. I decided to add a pop of color, and emphasize the red, white, and blue Memorial theme by painting some of the words red. So, over the cream paint, I painted red. I wanted some cream to peek out, and it did.
Here's what I had when I removed all the vinyl.
I distressed the sign with an orbital sander. This was a mistake. The sand paper was fresh and the sander fast. There are a couple of places that show the circular marks. I was so disappointed since this was a time consuming project and I didn't have time to redo it. I decided it just added character (or I hoped). I then drilled holes in the top and added wire to make it easy to hang.
Here's the sign I presented to my aunt and cousin. I think remembering all the special people we've lost in life is a special way to spend Memorial Day. I will miss my Uncle Jim. He will not be forgotten.
