Warm Gestures LLC.

Kathy Gardener helps Keep Memories of Loved Ones Alive

Corrinne Kellogg
Chronicle Staff Write

Thanks to Kathy Gardener, keeping a loved one's grave site free of snow during the winter month is easier because of her grave blankets.  A grave blanket is a decorative blanket anchored into the ground over the grave keeping snow off the grave during the winter months. Kathy Gardener, owner of Warm Gestures, LLC. has shipped grave blankets to over 25 states in the United States.  What is unique about grave blankets, said Gardener, are that they are individualized.  The person purchasing the grave blanket can personalize the blankets by adding ornaments, letters, toys, or anything that reminds them of their loved one.

"Anybody's hobby can fit it."  Gardener said,  Everyone can personalize them.  This is their healing process.  Everybody's different." One woman bought a bowling pin for her daughter because she like to bowl. Gardener once put a drum on one grave blanket sent to Texas for Christmas time. The mother was surprised by it, when she got it because coincidently she had called her son her little drummer boy.

The grave blankets can serve for many holidays including Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines Day, anniversaries and birthdays.  Gardener has helped people in Calhoun County and Ingham Counties install the grave blankets and other counties. "Personal service is hard to come by these days," she said.  "My heart is in my business."

The most popular grave blankets are the poinsettias, followed by the powdered blue grave blankets, which are made using Scotch pine,. "I'm highly motivated." Gardener said. "My heart is in my work, and I have the love and passion for it, and it shows."

Gardener has been making grave blankets for the past 25 years. She began making them for her loved ones and friends. When people began asking if she could make them one, she got the idea to start a business. "It inspired me," Gardener said. "It told me there was a need out there. It's all because of word of mouth." My heart tells me to." You can't take on the whole world, but even one can make a difference."

She said the grave blanket to the mother of the little girl was the only flowers the family received. The woman later sent her a card and thanked Gardener for her generosity saying, "thank you for keeping my daughter warm all winter." The woman bought one for the next year. Gardener said she helps people whenever she can.

Gardener makes grave blankets for her three daughters Rachael, Cassandra and Gabrielle who passed away. "Each one of us have our own personal stories." she said. "That pain goes way, and we cling onto memories." "When you lose a child, you feel like a part of you goes with them," Gardener said. "As much as you've moved on with your life, when that anniversary comes around, it comes around." She also makes grave blankets for her late husband Jim, her mother Patricia, and her father Elmer. Her mother will get a red rose grave blanket and her husband and father will have veterans grave blankets.

In remembrance of her loved ones, on the anniversary of their death she donates to a cause. For her mother, she gives blood, her daughters she donates to a children’s hospital, and for her late husband and father she donates to the Veterans Administration. "Each anniversary is their day, " she said. "I give to a cause in memory of them." Gardener warned that people should be careful what they say to someone who has lost a loved one.

"My customers open up and tell me of a loved one. I open up and listen. I'm there to hear their loss. It's more than just making a grave blanket. I'm going to be there for them." Gardener believes because she knows how it feels to lose a loved one, listening can help mourners through tough times. "I don’t believe I start the healing process," she said. "Just knowing I can bring comfort to these families is what matters to me."

"William Straight, a friend of Gardener, has been buying grave blankets from her for the past 16 years. "I like them," he said. "They look nice." He buys one for his mother every year. "It is stuff my mother would have liked," he said. "I buy them for the comfort of knowing my mom would like them." Straight said they comfort both his mother and himself. "Just knowing they are on the grave, that somebody is thinking of you, is nice." Straight said. "Some people believe you can't talk to the dead, but it brings comfort to talk to them." Straight said he hopes he will get the same courtesy when he passes.

All grave blankets are $50-$60, plus delivery charges.Cemeteries have different regulations on the grave blankets, but most of them allow them from Nov.1 until March 1.