The UCLA 3 Wishes program is a palliative care initiative in which doctors and nurses elicit and implement final wishes for patients who are imminently dying. They also do things to provide comfort to surviving family members.
I recently reached out to the program, for which I am a donor, to let them know that I can make keepsake items for them to give to families if they like. I have done 2 projects for them the past couple of weeks. The first was 4 wall hangings cut from acrylic, a bookmark and an engraved ceramic tile made into a photoholder. The second was 3 cutting boards.
For each project, the program simply tells me the person’s first name or initials, what the deceased liked, etc. and leaves it to me to figure out to make and what it would look like. Joy for me comes for designing something meaningful, and always a surprise from UCLA for those people I will never meet.
The first project was for a person named Priscilla who liked hearts and starfish. The second was for a man who loved his family, country, BBQ grill, running and the Dallas Cowboys. I was successfully able to paint the cutting boards with food coloring so it’s food safe and they can actually be used if desired. The runner is formed from word art with a dozen words that describe his likes. I also engraved a blue (his favorite color) dog tag for the wife; he was an army reservist. It was a lot of fun to make.
And now, awaiting the next project, although with sadness because that means someone else has passed away in the ICU.
That is so special and wonderful of you. Those all look amazing. The heart and starfish is beautiful, the cutting boards are awesome, the bookmark is special, and I love how you turned the tile into a photo holder. Great job, and I’m sure the families really appreciate such unique mementos of their loved ones.
Project 3 was for the family of an Hispanic gentleman who loved Mexican music, tequila and Club America soccer. I made a serving tray with an engraved tile bottom, an appetizer platter,
2 coasters, 2 engraved tequila shooter glasses, a ring box, and engraved a small gemstone cross.
My most recent project was a group of personalized gifts for a guy named Vince who recently saw his partner Dave pass on. Dave loved pierogies, and that inspired the items I did for Vince.
A few days after the project was done, I got an email from the 3WP director who passed along text of an email she got from the survivor (Vince) after he received the package with the items. He laughed and he cried and he felt Dave’s presence. That’s what it is all about.
The latest project was for the family of a UCLA hospital worker who was expected to pass on this weekend after being removed from life support. Divorced dad Carlos leaves behind two boys and a love for the LA Dodgers.
I engraved the bottom weight of wind chimes for his sister, made two boxes for baseballs for his sons (they got Carlos’ thumb prints on a couple of Dodgers baseballs yesterday), and a 5 layer framed laser cut and engraved word cloud. The last item took about 6 hours of machine time to make (roughly 10x13 in size) because of the extreme detail.
What a special way to remember him. Love, love, love the sign, especially when you see the tiny baseball being thrown. Fantastic job. So sorry for their loss.
to make a wonderful memory for those families. Well done
