Vancouver jewelry designer Michaela Evanow started making her Mama Gems line as she cared for her young daughter who required around-the-clock medical care and protection.
Tragically, precious three-year-old Florence Marigold Evanow passed away in May of last year.
A darling strawberry blonde with a beaming smile and gentle face, Florence was Evanow’s first-born, coming into the world in the “blue of March,” as Evanow, an award-winning blogger, writes on her personal namesake website.
It wasn’t until their beautiful bright-eyed daughter was a couple months old that it became apparent there was something amiss with her physical development. She couldn’t bear weight on her legs and tummy time was a struggle.
When the diagnosis came through, it was a grim one: a terminal neuromuscular disease known as Type 1 spinal muscular atrophy, or Werdnig–Hoffmann disease. The deadly disease is the most common genetic cause of infant death, claiming the lives of dozens of Canadian children every year.
As it turns out, both Evanow and her husband carried the gene. Doctors told the new parents their daughter would likely only have one to two years to live.
“I don’t even know how to describe what that’s like,” Evanow says, recalling the day the awful news came down.
They went home and tried to live a “normal” life, though because of Florence’s weakened immune system, the family spent most of their time inside protecting her from germs.
In the meantime, the Evanows also had a second child – a healthy little boy, named Theodore, who turned out to be a busy body who hit the teething years with a vengeance, grabbing at his mama’s necklaces when she held him. Unwilling to give up wearing jewelry, Evanow started looking into necklaces that her little guy could safely tug and chew on. She searched the market, but only found necklaces that weren’t her.
“The styles were lots of bright colours, not very gown up, primary colours – things that I would never wear,” she says.
The idea struck her to create her own necklaces, ones that she would actually wear and that worked with her bohemian style.
“I wanted statement pieces; I wanted them to be beautiful, but yet he could pull on it and chew it,” she says.
The Mama Gems line is stylish and sophisticated enough to be worn even by those who don’t have a little one pulling at their jewelry, but still safe for those who do. Standouts include the Himalaya silicone and juniper wood necklace, made with desert sage, wheat and juniper wood beads, scented with a woodsy aroma, and inspired by prayer beads and rosaries. Essential oils can also be added to many of the pieces as well. Another stunner is the Florence silicone necklace in seaglass, inspired by mala prayer necklaces, rosaries and the colours of Botticelli's “Birth of Venus”.
Proceeds from various necklaces go toward the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing global awareness of SMA.
Evanow started the jewelry line while Florence was still alive, but had to put it on hold when her daughter’s health worsened. Florence spent her final days in Canuck Place, which Evanow praises for the incredible support and care their daughter (and the family) received.
“They made it such a sacred and safe thing,” Evanow says.
Their desire was for Florence to have a peaceful passing and to be as close to her as possible.
“It was the most traumatizing time of our life,” Evanow says, gently weeping. “We just held her and cried and screamed, and we didn’t know what death would be like – you spend your child’s life fighting for them.”
After Florence passed away, when she was ready, Evanow returned to creating the Mama Gems line, which became a grief project as much as a creative outlet. On those nights when she couldn’t sleep, she worked on the line, immersing herself as a way to deal with the overwhelming anguish.
Remembering her daughter, through tears, Evanow says, “She gave so much to everyone. She would look at you with such love – so many people comment on that.”
With Florence’s middle name being Marigold, the flower holds a special significance for Evanow. Supporters at home and around the globe have planted Marigolds in Florence’s memory.
The flower has become an endearing symbol of Evanow’s little flower – who bloomed beautifully during her short life.
