Changing careers in midlife is not unusual. People get bored, or burned out. Or they want to try something they’ve always dreamed of but never had the nerve to attempt. But for me, a career change came about as a result of personal tragedy.
I had been a physician’s assistant for 30 years – most recently at Woodward and Associates in Harrisburg. I loved my work; I loved my patients.
Then, on July 18, 2011, our eldest daughter, Allison, passed away suddenly as a result of surgical complications. It was a great shock, and left an overwhelming emptiness in my heart.
Alli was only 24, but she was already an accomplished fashion designer living her dream in New York City. She was featured in many magazines, received awards, and designed six of her own collections. Alli had been voted one of the “Top 100 Up and Coming Fashion Designers” in the country.
Suddenly, I felt like I couldn’t go back to my old jobs. What was I going to do?
A few months after Alli’s passing, her publicist delivered a huge amount of remnants and bolts of material from our daughter’s apartment. When a friend of Stephanie’s, our younger daughter, gave her a small floral arrangement made of fabric and pipe cleaners, I got an idea to create unique, elegant, and everlasting flowers in Alli’s memory from the fabric she had left behind.
I named this fabric-flower enterprise “Alli’s Everlasting Arrangements.” The flowers we sell are one-of-a-kind, either stand-alone or in a vase. We also sell flower accessories, including pins, ponytail holders, headbands, and hair clips.
A father-and-son business in New York City – M&S Schmalberg Inc. – crafts the flowers. But I take an active part, by adding embellishments to each flower – various accents that enhance the fabric. If I’m stumped about which direction to go in, I’ve asked myself what Alli would have wanted. She liked glitz and bling.
Alli’s Everlasting Arrangements has a charitable component: we donate a percentage of each purchase to the fund set up in Alli’s memory at her alma mater, the Savannah College of Art and Design. The Alli Heyden Passion for Fashion Memorial Endowment Fund awards a scholarship each year to a deserving fashion student.
Our family has also donated a game-ready machine in Alli’s memory to Drayer Physical Therapy Institute in Susquehanna Township. Drayer holds a special place in our heart because Alli was treated there, and Stephanie had a summer internship there.
Some day I may return to my long-term career. But for now, enhancing and selling the floral arrangements in our elder daughter’s memory gives me a sense of contentment and emotional satisfaction much needed after the loss of a child.
Like our love for Alli, these floral arrangements last forever. They don’t need water, just love.
For flowers, visit www.AllisEverlastingFloralArrangements.com. The flowers are also available locally at First Impressions in Harrisburg and Pazazz in Lemoyne. We are working on national distribution. Renee Heyden lives in Lower Paxton Township.
