This project was made in partnership with Sprout by HP. Thank you for supporting my sponsors.
For me, keepsakes open up a part of my memory that is buried deep. They awaken my senses and bring emotions to the surface with the touch of my hand, a familiar smell, or sometimes a sound. So as Matilda's birthday approached, I started to go back through her hospital things, to collect the memories from her 72 day stay as a newborn who brought everyone she came in contact with a world of hope, love, and even laughter.
As I held different items in my hand, I was filled with a mountain of emotions. Sometimes it was anger, sometimes joy, sometimes fear, and most often pain. But I kept coming back to the molds we made of Matilda's hands and feet the day before and the day of her liver transplant.
To me these molds have never just represented Matilda as she was that day, but the two week old baby who donated his liver to her as well. These two bodies collided in such unfortunate circumstances waving to each other as they briefly passed from one life and into the next. This little hand waving represents all the life that that brought, as well as the loss experienced by the donor family. And that is when it hit me, I wanted to gift it to them somehow so that they can have a piece of Matilda to hold onto as well.
Thankfully we live in a world full of innovation and creativity and my all-in-one Sprout by HP computer was perfect for the job. I used the Sprout's 3D scanning capability and turntable technology to make a 3D model of Matilda's handprint mold and have it sent to a 3D printing service. I wanted mine to look just like the real mold, so I had it done in a a matte white material and shrunk down to about an inch, but you can turn your 3D model into almost anything you can imagine. Once I received it in the mail, I simply glued a pin on the back.
I am thrilled with how this project turned out, and am excited to ship this keepsake pin to Matilda's donor family as a token of our appreciation for gifting us with a lifetime full of Matilda's laughter and love.
