MATHIS, Texas — Esmeralda Moreno lost her husband in October, and turned a few of her husband’s shirts into pillows as keepsakes for her daughters and grandchildren.
“He was a minister, and he always wore his ties and his dress shirts,” Moreno said.
Her daughter Emily broke down when she received the gift.
“She actually let me pick the shirt that I wanted for him, and as soon as I saw it, I started crying,” Emily Moreno said. “I sleep with it every night, it means so much to me, because I do feel like I’m close to him. It gives me comfort, it really does.”
Esmeralda decided more people could benefit from her creations, and with Emily’s help, she started a Facebook page to sell them.
One gift she recently made was a long-sleeve shirt of a grandfather, turned into a pillow for his granddaughter.
“When she holds it, she can put the sleeves around, and they’re stuffed so it will feel like the arms are around her,” Esmeralda Moreno said.
She said it’s the closest someone can get to a family member who has passed away.
“It means a lot to people when they have something made for their loved ones they can keep, and it makes me feel good that I’m able to do something like this for them,” Moreno said.
Esmeralda knows how important her gifts can be to the people who receive them.
“Speaking from experience, since I lost my husband recently, it means a lot. You feel close, like you’re holding them. I know it means a lot, I know to my daughters also, because it’s part of their dad, and they feel like they’re close to him, holding him.”
