Handmade feathers help parents with loss

The spirit of giving comes in many forms and sometimes shines its light through deep loss. Two years ago this month Robbinston residents Todd and Bonnie Stewart lost their son, Daniel, to suicide. The pain of that loss does not recede with time, but Bonnie has found her way out of grief's darkness by creating stained glass feathers for parents who have lost a child. "I want other parents to know they aren't alone in their grief. I want to remember their lost child just as I remember my lost child," she explains.
The idea came from a loving gesture made by Stewart's seven year old great niece. "She started bringing me feathers. She said, 'Aunt Bonnie, this is from Daniel. It's from heaven, and he wants you to know that he's OK.'" Stewart pauses when she considers the faith the little girl had in this knowledge. "She knew it, I knew it."
The first feather Stewart made was for a neighbor who had lost their little boy. Then she started making them for others who she knew had lost a child. At the end of October she put out information about her project, Feathers from Heaven, on social media. "I have gotten requests from so many," she says quietly. She asks two things, the name of the child and their favorite color, and then she gets to work. "It's been amazing to connect with other parents who are going through this journey." So far she has made 74, with 37 on her remaining list and more coming in every day. While she has worked mostly with local families, she has made feathers for parents as far away as Michigan, Florida, Arizona and Iowa.
"When I'm making them, it's very therapeutic," Stewart says. "Being able to connect with others going through it -- it's a soul level." Parents who have lost children are her heroes, she says, because they continue to live. "There's nothing stronger than being here when you don't want to be." She hopes that people who have lost loved ones as she has reach out and are able to find the help they need to navigate their grief. She knows what it's like to not have that help. When Daniel died she could not find a therapist or counselor in the region to help her. "I just lost my son and there's a six-month waiting list?" she exclaims, still incredulous. The lack of mental health services in the region astonishes her. "There are so many people in our area. It all ties in -- suicide, drugs, death. It's all screaming, 'We need help.'"
Stewart does not charge for her feathers. "Money doesn't deserve a place here," she notes. As she pieces together the stained glass, she thinks back and forth about her son and the child for whom she is making the feather. One feather was a classic Tonka toy yellow for a child's favorite toy. Another was for a veteran with colors of red, white and blue. For Daniel she made a feather of pure white. "He was such a bright light in my life." She adds, "White sums it up; he had such a huge heart."
A Feathers from Heaven social media page is in the works. Stewart can also be reached through Facebook messenger or by emailing feeltheearth3@gmail.com.