Honoring a loved one by making memory quilts with Project Repat

@experiencecamps Companies like @Etsy or @Project Repat do great work on these quilts. #grief #giftideas #giftguide #grieving #selfcare ♬ Deck the Halls - Lofi - Gentle State

Brie Overton, the Chief Clinical Officer of Experience Camps, writes about how making tshirt quilts can be a unique and special coping mechanism for those missing a loved one. 

Holding on to so many memories can be really hard for a grieving child and even adults. Where do you keep these memories? How do we store them and keep them safe? Our friends at Project Repat, a company that creates custom t-shirt quilts, have a wonderful comforting idea for you: create a quilt out of old and loved T-shirts that belonged to the person that died in your life. 

A shirt can hold a surprising amount of memories. It can take you back to a moment in time when your person was alive. Maybe they were wearing the shirt at an event, having a conversation with you, or doing an activity they enjoyed doing with you. One shirt can cause a domino effect of memories, happy and sad, exciting and tearful, loving and caring. 

Chief Clinical Officer at Experience Camps Brie Overton says, “Being able to physically hold the belongings of a person that died in your life can bring comfort and peace. It can also make you feel closer to the person even though they’re no longer with us.” 

Imagine having many of the T-shirts that belonged to your loved one all in one place. Filled with all of those memories, waiting for you to explore. A memory quilt is a an incredible way to not only memorialize a person who has died, but it can also act as a space that can collect and hold your memories for years to come. 

What would it feel like to wrap up in a cozy comfortable blanket that felt like an embrace, a big squeeze from the one you’re missing? Thank you Project Repat for creating this gift for so many grieving people across the world. 

Brie Overton, Chief Clinical Officer of Experience Camps, is a doctoral candidate at the University of Missouri – St. Louis in the Department of Counseling and Family Therapy, where she educates and supervises master and doctoral level students on grief-specific issues in counseling. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and specializes in anticipatory loss, grief and bereavement, life transitions, and working with underserved populations. She is a member of the Association for Death Education and Counseling and has worked as a clinician and Clinical Director for Experience Camps since 2016.