Cancer Ribbon Urns

This collection is for the person who took on every part of their journey, including the tasks that often go unseen. It is for the one who managed the appointments, the second opinions, and the endless paperwork, and for the circle of people who stepped in to help. You may remember the many ways people answered the call, through the simple acts of driving, sitting in waiting rooms, or preparing meals that arrived without being asked.

You might find that the courage you remember was not found only in the most difficult moments. It was often in the steady, ordinary administration of their days - the way they handled the calendar, the forms, and the many phone calls, or how they gave the same explanation to a person who had just heard it for the first time. They kept handling it all.

The ribbon is a unique symbol because it is something others wear on someone else's behalf. Rather than a mere badge, it serves as a rally call, appearing on office doors, team shirts, and coats to show that a community is standing together.

Choosing this design is a way to honor how they met every part of their experience head on. It reflects the way so many people stood by them, wearing the ribbon as a way to say they were present.

Each piece is cast aluminum and features a threaded screw-top lid and a felt base. You can choose from a range of painted finishes or a hand-applied enamel with hand-detailed silver bands. Because the ribbon is the central design, you can select the specific color that belongs to your family.

To accommodate how you wish to remember them, the collection includes full-size, sharing, and keepsake urns. This allows you to choose a single piece or several to hold together.

For a more personal touch, we offer the option to have a name and dates engraved directly into the surface in two-tone lettering, so their name and dates become part of the design itself.

The awareness ribbon began on one woman's kitchen table. In 1991, Charlotte Haley, a breast cancer survivor, made peach-colored ribbons by hand and attached them to cards, asking people to wear one and to press for change. She handed them out herself.

The following year the idea was taken up nationally: Alexandra Penney of Self magazine and Evelyn Lauder of Estee Lauder formalized a ribbon for the magazine's second Breast Cancer Awareness Month issue, and chose pink. From that one ribbon came the whole vocabulary of colors now worn for other cancers and other causes. For a family, the design on the urn is the ribbon other people put on, and how many of them did.

Source: Wikipedia, Pink ribbon

If you remember them for their steady administration of the difficult days or the way they met every new challenge head on, then this design will serve as a recognition of those qualities. A friend or a grandchild might see in the ribbon the way a whole community stood by them, wearing the symbol as a quiet rally call.

The choice of this piece belongs to your own memory and the way you wish to honor their life. When you look at it, you may find yourselves picturing them working through the calendar and the phone calls, steady as ever.

Our guide to selecting the right size urn