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Memory Stones
A selection of stones are a useful route to having a meaningful conversation with your children.
Smooth pebble – even though times have been hard with mum or dad's illness, ordinary life still goes on.
Rough rock – represents the difficult and hard times.
Gemstone – reminds you of the special times you've had together.
Encourage your children to hold each stone in turn and give examples of feelings and events that they would attach to the different stones. You can also share your own. Together you will find that using this simple bag of stones can help break the conspiracy of silence that sometimes creeps in when tough stuff happens in families. If you can't find your own, Winston's Wish has a special gift set you can buy.
One girl, Ryan, describes her stones like this:
'When I'm having a bad day I sometimes look at my stones to feel better. The one that makes me smile is my blue gemstone. It reminds me how much fun we used to have on holiday, swimming in the sea and just being an ordinary family.'
If you don't want to make up your own, you might want to buy a luxury version from Links of London. The S-Mile Stones (£85) make a unique gift for anyone trying to balance life or cope with serious illness in the family. Each set contains a solid silver nugget, an amethyst and quartz, all strong symbols of the human soul. Winston's Wish receive 30% of the RRP to support the charity's work.
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