The Power of Tangible Memories
How Keepsakes Help Families Navigate Grief
Grief is a deeply personal journey, and for families experiencing baby loss, the fear of forgetting even the smallest details can be overwhelming. Tangible keepsakes, like hand and foot castings, provide a lasting connection. They are a way to honour and remember their baby’s brief but meaningful life.
Zoe Stower of Ellivio Castings has dedicated her work to creating these treasured mementos, offering comfort and connection to grieving families. In this interview, she shares the profound impact of her work, the importance of choice in bereavement care, and why memory-making is a vital part of healing.
The Impact of Memory Making & Tangible Mementos
How do you think having a tangible memento, like a hand or foot casting, helps families in their grief journey?
Tangible Memories can be deeply meaningful for families navigating grief, they can offer a sense of presence allowing loved ones to feel connected to someone they have lost in a tangible way.
Have you heard from families about what these keepsakes mean to them? Could you share any memorable feedback?
For the castings I have created to date, the feedback has been incredible. One lady said “my dad touches it everyday and gets great comfort from it” and another said ’we now have the most beautiful sculpture that keeps her memory alive”
The Importance of Your Work
What impact do you feel your work has on families experiencing loss?
It can provide them with a physical connection whereby touching or holding a cast can provide comfort and a sense of closeness, it can provide a lasting tribute and unlike photos, it preserves the size, shape and feel of their presence, it can provide a focal point for grief and comfort during difficult moments and also a legacy, to pass down for generations to come, helping family members connect to someone they may have heard about, but not met.
How does the process of creating these castings support parents in the immediate days following their loss?
It allows parents to make memories with their baby as they would have been able to in any other circumstance. All babies should be celebrated, shown to the world and have their own space on the family wall at home should their parents wish. No parent should be denied this opportunity to honour their child in this way.
What do you wish more people understood about the importance of memory making after baby loss?
I wish more people understood that memory-making after baby loss isn’t about prolonging pain—it’s about preserving love. Parents are often left with so few tangible memories, and the fear of forgetting even the smallest details can be overwhelming. Creating keepsakes, like hand and foot castings, photos, or memory boxes, provides a way to honour their baby’s brief but meaningful life.
Many people assume that avoiding reminders helps grieving parents “move on,” but in reality, having tangible connections can bring comfort. These mementos offer a way to acknowledge that their baby existed, was loved, and will always be part of their family story. Memory-making also helps create space for grief, allowing parents to process their loss at their own pace rather than feeling pressured to “let go” too soon.
Choice & Comprehensive Bereavement Care
Why do you think it’s essential for bereavement care programs to offer families different ways to create memories with their child?
Because every families grief journey is unique, the way parents process loss, find comfort and honour their babies varies so having options allows them to choose what feels most meaningful.
How can hospitals, hospices, and bereavement teams better integrate keepsake-making into their care for loss families?
In my opinion, by proactively offering keepsake options and providing it in a variety of forms. Ensuring all options of keepsakes are available at all times and of high quality that will last a lifetime or more and that they are created by trained professionals, and to partner with businesses and agencies who are doing this well.
Your Journey & Inspiration
What inspired you to start working with loss families in this way?
As someone with a young family, I can only begin to imagine the heartbreak of baby loss. While I haven’t experienced it personally, I deeply appreciate how important these casts are and the comfort they can bring to families.
I feel incredibly fortunate to have been trained to a high standard, and I want to use my skills to create something truly meaningful. These casts are more than just keepsakes—they are a lasting connection to a much-loved baby, a way for families to cherish and honour their little one forever. Being able to offer this to families during such a difficult time is both a privilege and a responsibility that I hold with great care and compassion.
Being trained to a high standard means I can ensure each casting captures the smallest details—tiny fingers, delicate wrinkles—so parents have a beautiful, lasting memory. It’s an honour to be able to offer this, and I hope it helps families feel supported, seen, and never alone in their loss.
Can you share a meaningful experience that reinforced why you do this work?
Creating Dexter’s casts has been incredibly meaningful for me. Knowing that these casts will forever hold significance for his Mummy, Sister, and future families who experience loss is a reminder of why I do this work.
Supporting Families Beyond the Initial Loss
How do you see the lasting impact of your work on families as they continue their grief journey?
As time goes on, these keepsakes become part of their healing journey. They can be a way to include their baby in family traditions—perhaps lighting a candle beside them on anniversaries or birthdays, helping parents explain their loss to future children or offering a source of connection for grandparents and siblings
Are there any additional resources or support services you wish were more widely available for loss families?
Accessible Grief counselling, financial assistance for memorial and keepsake services, resources for siblings and extended family, long term check in and support to name but a few.
Memory-making after baby loss is not about holding onto pain, it’s about holding onto love. Keepsakes like castings offer parents a way to honour their baby’s place in their family, preserving a legacy that will be cherished for generations.
As Zoe Stower so beautifully puts it, “No parent should be denied the opportunity to honour their child in this way.” By ensuring families have access to these meaningful options, we create space for healing, remembrance, and the reassurance that their baby will always be a part of their story.
The CuddleCot discreetly allows healthcare professionals, hospices, and funeral homes to provide families with the gift of time to create these tangible memories in any setting.
💙 If you or someone you know has experienced loss, know that you are not alone. There is support, there is love, and there are ways to keep their memory alive. 💙
Visit cuddlecot.com/grieving to find access to free grief support resources, including our free Grief Chat service where anyone experiencing grief can talk toa. qualified bereavement counsellor.