Memories by Hono Hargrave was born from an experience that taught me that a small object can mean much more than we imagine.

It all started with a dear friend, Pau, who lost her mother, father, grandmother and mother-in-law in about two years. She asked me to make some bears from her mother’s and grandmother’s clothes. I was still a baker back then, but I made them for her with all the love her story deserved.

On her graduation day, Pau brought the bear made from her mother’s clothes and shared a photo with words I will never forget:

“I told you you’d be with me at my graduation.”

That’s when I realized I had helped her mother be present, not physically, but through a memory she could hold.

Years later, living in Cameron, Missouri, and missing my children, I made them a little bunny and a bear so they could feel closer to me despite the distance. I understood then that these little fabric animals could help us keep the people we love close.

That is how Memories by Hono Hargrave began.

Because there are people who, even though we can no longer hug them the same way, will always have a place in our hearts.