Sometimes we choose what to leave behind, and sometimes life chooses for us.
A blooming rose, cut at the stem, adorns the front of my latest locket design. Inspired by the Latin motto Recisa florescit, meaning “Cut back, it flourishes”, the piece explores the relationship between loss, renewal and the things we carry with us through life.
The phrase speaks to the pruning we choose for ourselves, letting go of what no longer serves us to make space for new growth, but also to the losses that arrive without our choosing. The endings we aren't ready for and the moments that change the shape of our lives.
Yet what is cut back is not necessarily gone. Beneath the surface, roots remain. The connections we hold can live on long after circumstances have changed. We carry them with us into whatever comes next, even when we can't imagine what that might look like.
This meaning feels pretty close to my heart at the moment, having said goodbye to my sweet boy Ralph this weekend. He had been by my side throughout my adult life, and at times, he was the reason I was able to keep going through the hardest parts. He was my litmus test for whether someone was a good person, which is probably why I knew my husband was a green flag when we met. The two of them were inseparable from their very first meeting, and over the years, Ralph probably became more Mike's sidekick than mine.
Losing Ralph has reminded me how difficult it is to reconcile the permanence of loss with the enduring presence of love. The world carries on, as it does, but love doesn't simply disappear because the one we love is no longer beside us.
Perhaps this is why I feel this design holds more than one meaning. When I began developing the design, I was looking ahead to a new chapter, making plans for the coming years and considering the changes I wanted to make in my own life to reach the future I envisioned for myself and our family. I'd been thinking about a gardening tip I'd come across, about how pruning a plant allows it to put more energy into its roots, creating a stronger foundation for it to thrive.
But this past weekend brought something I hadn't anticipated. The kind of loss that asks you to find your footing in a world that looks much the same, yet feels entirely different. The kind that asks you to learn to move forward when grief is so deeply rooted in the past and in memory.
I finished engraving the locket the day before Ralph went into the vets and we were told it was time to say our goodbyes. I couldn't have known then how differently I'd come to understand its meaning just a day later.
For some, the Recisa Locket may mark a chapter of personal growth, a reminder of something they've chosen to leave behind and the possibilities that lie ahead. For others, it may become a place to keep a small photograph, a lock of hair or another treasured keepsake, preserving a connection to someone dearly loved. For me, it will be the latter.
Recisa florescit isn't a promise that every loss leads to something better. Sometimes we choose to begin again, and sometimes life chooses for us. Other times, all we can do is learn to carry what we've lost and find a way forward.
