a fifth stone

The last post featured one of my favorite gifts I received; this post is about one of the favorite gifts we gave. Here’s the short version of events that led to this gift.

You might remember the big gift we all gave to my parents last Christmas – custom mosaic garden stepping stones, one for each grandchild. My parents had been looking for some type of stepping stone for a new garden area they installed, but they never really found anything that they loved. My sister and I came up with the idea to have four stones made, and we chose subjects that we thought represented the things that our parents love – and we tied each one of those ideas back to a grandchild.

It was a really fun gift to give, and Carol Lancour did an amazing job on all four of them. Spring rolled around, the ground warmed up, and they were all installed. Done!

Well, not exactly. Because spring also brought along some exciting news… and sometime late summer I realized that maybe that garden path wasn’t really finished.

I contacted Carol that fall and asked if she would kindly reserve some time to get one additional stone made. I wanted to book her early because I knew the baby wasn’t coming until November, and the holiday season gets really busy for her. She graciously accepted the challenge, and we all waited for the baby’s arrival.

Once my niece was here and had a name, I started toying around with some ideas for the fifth stone. I finally settled on a twilight scene with fireflies because it reminded me of all the kids running around playing in my parents’ backyard in the summertime. I thought it could sparkle, and sort of symbolize the joy that all the kids bring to our family collectively. Carol liked the idea and starting planning it out.

And then my grandfather was so ill, and those weeks in late November and early December were really hard. I received a text from my sister saying that my mom had stopped by the house to decompress for a bit and hold the baby. She mentioned how hard everything was, and how she was looking forward to spring again. She told her that she’d love a fifth stone – maybe for Mother’s Day – and she’d love it to have a bunny, like the bunnies that hang out in the garden. And she also wanted pink – pink for spring, and flowers, and a perfect pink-skinned surprise baby girl to celebrate.

I emailed Carol immediately and told her to shift gears. She graciously did, and the design took off from there. She sent several progress photos along the way – from concept sketch, to this later one:

The final product is just stunning, right down to that sparkly blue bunny eye, and the pink dogwood blossoms that bloom in my parents’ garden each spring.

The added bonus was the surprise factor – my parents had no idea that a new stone could be ordered, made, and delivered in such a short time. This moment was one of my favorite moments of the holidays.

I can’t tell you how enjoyable it is to work with Carol. Her work is beautiful, and her attention to detail is second to none. What a fun surprise it was to get a chance to work with her again. Her work has brightened up two winters for us, and gets us ready for spring, and the garden, again.