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Last week, I attended the ICCFA (International Cremation, Cemetary, Funeral Association) convention in San Antonio, TX. It was a great show - full of state of the art info about social networking, newest funeral trends, and more. I made some wonderful connections, and am looking forward to introducing some new artists in the next few weeks.

Three of the connections that I made were very profound. All of them were other vendors. In conversation, I learned that all 3 of them had suffered profound losses in their lives - 1 husband, and 2 children. They all entered the supplier side of the funeral industry from that perspective. Even though I hadn’t experienced tremendous loss when I started Shine On Brightly, I have since suffered the devastating loss of my husband. One of the new connections told me that the fact that I entered into this industry, and then experienced this huge life change was no coincidence. Another one said, “we don’t choose the death industry, it chooses us.” As creepy as that may sound, these two comments have been ringing in my mind ever since.

I definitely view my work differently now. While I was always passionate about people, their stories, and art, I now feel that this is all meant to be…..Helping people memorialize and honor their loved ones’ lives with art is a vocation for me. And I feel so very fortunate to be in this position.