The Personal Story Behind our Locket Pendants [trigger warning]

by Elizabeth Suda

This story starts with a happy ending: I'm having a baby! But this is the first time I've noted a trigger warning. And yet, everyone here knows our jewelry is associated with incredible humans overcoming all sorts of traumas, because each piece comes from a real place in history with resourceful and resilient people behind it, from our artisan partners in Laos to:

Lao American refugee, and Executive Director of Legacies of War, Sera Koulabdara
Triple amputee, humanitarian photographer covering Ukraine + UN ambassador, Giles Duley
Mountain bike champion, entrepreneur, and MAG ambassador, Rebecca Rusch
Renaissance woman and artist, Beatrix Ost
Ukrainian master jeweler and inventory, Stanislav Drokin
 
And me. A Founder with the fortune of traveling to Laos in my early twenties and leaving with the knowldge of this extraordinary story - and the gumption to do something about it. The birth of our locket collection has to do with fertility challenges. STOP HERE if it's too much and siimply enjoy these precious new designs that are designed to print your photo on metal.
 
 

 

 

I wanted to share the birth of the lockets because it's part catharsis and part PSA. I think it was David Sedaris who said something like how grateful he was to be a writer because he has an "outlet". I'm grateful to work in a creative space because of the outlet it provides.

 
The PSA part: a woman's biological clock is real on top of the shocking number of fertility challenges women are having because of toxins from pollution, poor food quality, glyphosate's, phalates, PFAS, the mindboggling list goes on.
 
The rest of my story goes like this: There are a few things I said I would never do. I've learned that statement is a guarantee to doing them. I said I'd never sleep in a sandy bed, or learn how to drive stick shift, or love eating anchovies, and I would certainly never have children after 40 with any grey hairs plucking out. Never.
 
I always wanted children. It was a matter of when and not whether. From all I saw in the media, women could have it all - work and children and push into their forties. But then, reality struck.

 

I said I'd never sleep in a sandy bed, or learn how to drive stick shift, or love eating anchovies, and I would certainly never have children after 40 with any grey hairs plucking out. Never.

 

 

It's COVID. February 2021. I'm 37. I'm in the hospital after a second miscarriage. I learn that a second miss could be a sign of a third to come. I have my glorious daughter Sophia, fortunately. But suddenly I realized that I didn't learn much in by biology classes about my very own body.

Sad as I felt, I was strong. The hospital was eerily quiet. I'm there for a scheduled surgery because although the little heart had stopped beating two weeks earlier, he was still in tact and something had to be done. Minutes before going under, a kind nurse hands me a paper about the dates of the funeral. Would I like to attend the funeral in May?

I burst into tears. I had not yet processed how to bring closure. But a funeral was not my answer. A few months later, the idea for the locket sprung to mind.

 

Despite the sadness I feel over the losses, I am enamored by Mother Nature - that she knew my pregnancies would not yield positive outcomes.

 

I'm enamored by Mother Nature - that she knew my pregnancies would not yield positive outcomes. That knowledge kept me strong and made me want to engrave the dates of my losses on a special piece of jewelry. After all, those sad moments, led me on a winding path of IVF from NY, to France, to Spain, and finally to my son, Maxence, who will be 2 on Monday! I now await my third baby, due four years later this February.
 
And of course, I have the bright young faces of Sophia and Maxence on lockets for me to celebrate their existence every single day <3
 
I've learned so much. If you want to share a story, feel free to reach out to hello@article22.com. IVF angels helped me through and sharing is truly caring.
 
#loveisthebomb

Heritage Locket Pendants

Gem and Birthstone Collection

 

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