The Memory Smith provides a caring, professional and high quality service to assist families to create beautiful lasting memories of their loved ones at a time of celebration, loss & grief.
The Memory Smith works with you to ensure the keepsake/memorials you choose from will hold a special place in your heart. Our hand selected range of memory pieces includes ashes in glass, and many different types of impression memorabilia. The pieces you select will become treasured heirlooms and an exquisite memorial of remembrance.
Our Vision is that all end of life organisations offer The Memory Smith Impression kit as part of their ongoing services, collecting impressions on behalf of families before it is no longer possible.
It is my absolute love and passion to give grieving families the opportunity to preserve the fingerprint, handprint & truss of hair of their loved ones and turn these into beautiful heirlooms that can be worn, held and touched for generations to come.
We work with families and individuals throughout Australia to create memorabilia which will live on beyond their loved ones passing. You will find our products and services available through many hospitals, aged care facilities, children’s hospices and funeral homes.
We also work closely with people facing the last stages of their lives who want to gift their families with exquisite mementos to remember them by that they can cherish and feel connected to for generations after their departure.
Where my passion began
My husband’s sister was my inspiration; she asked me to help nurse her at home through the final stages of a terminal illness. I had never been asked to do anything like this before. One night I told the palliative care nurse I’d searched to find stories of how other people with no experience had dealt with supporting someone through dying, but to no avail. She said, “Well you know what that means – you are going to have to write it”.
Twenty-two beautifully told stories, of such courage, cover a broad spectrum – expected deaths of elderly, unexpected deaths of young, accidents, suicide, and illness, interspersed with very practical information. I know this can be scary territory, but if someone takes your hand and says, “This is safe”, it can help take some of that fear away – which my book The Intimacy of Death and Dying does.
Some of the bravest people I’ve worked alongside are Bear Cottage Children’s Hospice families and staff. As an art therapist, it was such a privilege to be in the company of deep love, honesty, compassion, and laughter. There is no BS – life’s too short for that. This is the best way to deal with death.
I’m blessed to have trained through the Liverpool Hospital Reflected Legacy program, which I would love to bring to the Mid Coast region as Sacred Legacy. It is such a deep honouring of the value of the legacy left by every life lived.
From my own personal experience I truly understand the desire to keep hold of a small part of one’s loved one after they are gone. Being able to touch and hold unique fingerprints and hand prints is truly a gift and I am so grateful to be able to support people with this.
Rachel, the mother of young child who died at Bear Cottage, explains the importance of this precious fingerprint jewellery: “I received the beautiful charms in the post this week. They are just gorgeous; I love them. I wear the heart shaped one on Carys’s necklace around my neck and the oval one on her charm bracelet. I cried when I opened and saw them; they are so pretty. I feel like I am physically carrying a little piece of her around with me all the time now. I can physically feel the ridges and patterns of her unique fingerprints at any time. It is such a special thing that you have enabled me to do; thank you so much.”
The Memory Smith takes orders Australia wide and and we can also ship orders internationally.
If you have any questions, please review our FAQ page, or Contact Us.
Thank you for visiting our website and we look forward to creating cherished memories for you.
Trypheyna McShane – Owner & Creative Director
The Memory Smith
