The story of the Memorial Tear® pendant, by Kathy Bernu

It has been several years since I decided to share a very personal symbol I call the Memorial Tear®. It was not an idea but an experience.

The loss of two people I loved, and other painful circumstances, took me into a period of grief I thought would never end. Some time in the the midst of that, I realized I had been mindlessly drawing the shape of a tear over and over. My first thought was that I wasn't just crying tears but now drawing them as well. I took a portion of another design and placed it over the tear and cried.

The simple drawing of a rose and a tear captured both my love and loss. For days I considered my drawing and thought of the words, "love never ends ." I decided to study the passage from 1 Corinthians 13:8, 13 and learned that love is the one virtue that goes on into eternity. My secret symbol became very consoling, even death could not end love.

I had a pendant made and people began to ask about it. I had many requests for the small symbol but could not bring myself to share it. A short time later, my sister-in-law and her mother lost three people in their family in six months. There was nothing that we as a family could do to change such overwhelming pain, but we could give them a tear. It was their response to the gift that moved me to continue sharing the piece and the consolation I felt was from God.

I wear my tear that now speaks deeply of the treasure I carry with me. God did not ask me to forget but to cherish the gift left within the tear- love that never ends. We grieve because we love. To love another person is our greatest privilege because love is the nature of God. Woven into our human failings is something wonderfully pure and eternal- love so deep that after it is sifted from our imperfections, it reflects the divine reality of God.

I share this symbol with you, and pray the grace of this truth will find you.

In sympathy,
Kathy Bernu, Jewelry Designer