|
|
|
As a busy mother of three young children, my days are full - full of appointments and commitments, and colored by many moments of happiness and, yes, a few moments of sadness. Indeed, the seed for Strecks was planted in a time of grief. My mother, Annette, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease when she was just 43. Sixteen years later, she was gone. The loss of my mother just a few years ago rocked my world and it shook me out of my complacency: I realized that I could bring both a part of my mother and myself back to life by giving birth to a new venture.
As I looked at my life and thought about ideas for a new business, I came back time and again to my mother's talent as a seamstress and designer. Perhaps because I relied on her to take care of all my creative and sewing needs, I never learned how to sew myself. Yet, here I was, looking at my life, and all the stuff that was cluttering my world-and what I kept envisioning was a creative, attractive way to organize and display my children's precious photos and artwork. And, alas, it involved sewing.
Traditional corkboards held no visual appeal for me. I wanted something attractive to showcase my kids' works of art, and to help me organize the stuff of life. And I'll admit that I'm not handy with a hammer or any of the hardware that might be used with a hammer-the stuff you need to hang most pin or magnet boards.
I had an idea for a board that wouldn't call for any of the intimidating hardware, but it did require me to learn to sew. So, what I never did during my mother's life, I finally did in her honor. To help me put together those first expression boards, I enlisted the help of my stepmother, who graciously came from Utah to save the day. Together, we sewed the first prototypes. Lucky me, to have two talented, creative moms!
Having overcome the sewing hurdle, the next obstacle was brainstorming an inventive way to keep photos and artwork on the board. I wanted flexibility: the board should be useful for both an artistic collage and as a more casual but attractive place to organize papers of any sort. After seemingly endless experimentation, I happened upon the specialized adhesive that now backs the ribbons.
And so Strecks was born. As part of my commitment to my mother's memory, Strecks will contribute a percentage of sales to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which is doing such great work in the search for Parkinson's causes and cures. Increasingly, links are being made between Parkinson's and hazards we are exposed to in the environment. That means every one of us is potentially at risk for developing this cruel disease. I am honored to support the mission of this great foundation.
Through Strecks, I celebrate my mother rather than dwell on her absence-because she is absolutely present in my life, my heart and my work. Her photos keep watch over me from the expression board above my sewing machine, and her guidance is with me always. I hear her gentle encouragement and “power speeches” in every board I sew: she reminds me that I can make anything happen, if I just believe.
|
My beautiful Mother, Annette
 |
|
|
|
|
