Christine Hansen did not intend to become a partner in the healing of others’ grief, but she is. Hansen is a glass artist who lives near Olympia; she takes cremains (people and pets) and incorporates the ashes into glass memorial beads.

Some of the beads allow the ashes to be seen – sort of floating within the bead - while other creations incorporate the ashes into the colorful bead itself. What ashes are not used in the beads Hansen returns to the families.

She has become a “conduit for healing and closure,” with her sacred, artistic creations; a tangible, unique remembrance of someone well-loved, now gone.

(S-R archive photo)

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