GARY T. PAKULSKI - Lifting a colorful pebble-size piece of glass from his pocket, Richard Schroeder is reminded of an accomplished woman known for fun New Year's Eve parties and achieving the distinction of being the first female newscaster on Ohio TV.
That woman, Jane Marie Ruhfel — known to viewers on Toledo's former WSPD-TV as Jane Schroeder — was his mother.
And the hand-blown glass object contains a small portion of the cremated remains taken from an urn after she died in March, 2009, at age 95.
“It keeps her near me. I pull it out, and every time I do I think of her,” the Sylvania man says as he thoughtfully stares at the object.
Just as the nation's huge Baby-Boom generation changed everything from the music that drifts into our ears to the food we stuff in our mouths, it is adopting novel ways of disposing of and memorializing the dead.
Art glass is emerging as an increasingly popular way of remembering deceased family members and friends. A glass-blower combines a small amount of human ashes with hot glass to create a heart, geometric design, or other object that can be displayed on a coffee table or secreted in a dresser drawer.
Dozens of firms that perform the service can be found on the Internet.
Artist Shawn Messenger, who operates a glass studio near downtown Toledo, has created about 15 of the works.
“It's becoming more popular,” says Ms. Messenger, who plans to suggest the memorial to her father. ...
via toledoblade.com -- The Blade ~ Toledo Ohio.
If they made it a drinking glass, would you drink from it?
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