🌷 Why I Started GriefWrapped

There are moments in life that split everything into before and after.

For me, that moment was when my husband, Alan, died — the love of my life, my best friend, my constant. When he passed, the world grew quieter. Even the simple things like having our morning coffee together, watching our favorite TV shows, having to cook for one - all just became reminders of what was missing.

In those early days, I searched for comfort in small, tangible ways. Reliving our memories in pictures on his phone and mine, wearing his shirts, or standing in his shoes. Those simple, everyday touches became lifelines, small gestures that wrapped my grief in something tender.

How it began:

When the doctor told Alan that he had gotten all of the cancer, we rejoiced! Alan felt he had a new lease on life and he wanted to live it. He came to me one day with his idea of fulfilling a dream he had to live on the beach. After much thought, I agreed and we began our journey of making that happen. We sold our home, our business, and moved to Mexico with all of our possessions in only six suitcases. Sadly, we only had two years left together: one was preparing for our new beach life, the other was where he got to live the last year of his life on the beach and exploring the area of our new home in Mexico. Exactly two months after his first symptoms appeared, my Alan was gone. I was adrift.

One day I started looking for a mug that would have a gentle sentiment about grief, something I could hold while pretending to have our morning coffee together. Since I had sold or given away all of our things when we moved I began to look online. There was nothing I could find that fit what I was looking for, everything was happy, joking, or silly. I couldn't find anything that had the quiet, reflective, warming tone that I was looking for.

So, I decided to create my own and, out of a desire to bring comfort to others walking through the same ache, I created my Shopify store.  That’s how GriefWrapped was born.

I wanted to help others hold onto love, even as they learn to live with loss. Each design in my shop is created with a grieving heart in mind. The quotes, the colors, the cardinals, butterflies, and wildflowers — they all carry meaning, hope, and a quiet reminder that our loved ones never truly leave us.

Grief changes everything, but it also softens us. It opens our hearts to see beauty in the fragile, joy in the remembering, and warmth in knowing they are near even if we can't see them. My hope is that GriefWrapped becomes more than a store — that it becomes a space of warmth, understanding, and gentle healing.

If you’ve found your way here, please know:
You’re not alone. You’re wrapped in love, memory, and comfort — always, even as you are slowly unwrapping and transforming into a new you.

With love,
Debbie