| Have you ever wondered if you are doing what you are meant to be doing with your life? At some time, we all ponder that question. I was abruptly forced to face the reality of how very short life is when my only brother Michael Graham passed away in 2001 unexpectedly at age 32 during a myelogram (dye test) procedure in preparation for back surgery. Michael was 3 years younger than me and we were very close. He was a great guy. He loved to play his guitar. He had a great sense of humor and was such a gentleman. We used to tease him that he was "raised by women" since he grew up living in a house with his mom and 3 sisters. Luckily he fell in love with and married a wonderful woman, Kimberlee. Kim had been raised with 3 brothers. They were a perfect match. Michael & Kim lived in Georgia. He was a devoted husband, son, and brother. He and I were the youngest of four children. His death stunned our entire family. He left behind his wonderful wife , Kim, who we love dearly and she is now the fourth sister in our family. You never really recover after the loss of a sibling. From that point on a part of you is always missing. The little guy my sisters and I would send downstairs to wake up Mom on Christmas morning, the young man who walked me down the aisle at my wedding, the little pest I would have to walk to and from school with everyday as children carrying our stupid Tupperware lunch boxes. My confidante and partner in crime was taken way before his time. Entering the next phase of my life without him being just a phone call away was incomprehensible to me. I had just had my youngest son 6 weeks before Michael's passing. When I returned to work from maternity leave after Michael's death I felt like I shouldn't be there. I knew life could be over before you know it and I wanted more than anything to be available for my family. I decided it was more important to me to be home with my young family and I resigned. For the first time in my life I was totally available to my family. I had told my coworkers before I left my job that I wanted to start a small business, all the time in the back of my head thinking that wasn't very likely to happen. In October of 2002, I decided to make my mom a pillow with the most beautiful Angel saying on it in memory of Michael. I stitched up this pathetic looking pillow and had no idea how to put it together. I didn't even own a sewing machine. I borrowed a sewing machine and my friend showed me how to make the pillow. It was really awful, but my mom loved it. That week I made 11 pillows. I started drawing out my own patterns and each one was better than the last. I realized this was what I was supposed to be doing. I started selling the pillows locally and then began selling on Ebay. Two stores started carrying my pillows, one store in Maryland and another in Rhode Island. (We have since added stores in Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennesee and Canada to the list of stores that carry our items.) Encouraged by the feedback I got from customers and requests to see all that I offered, I opened up www.PrimitivePillows.com in August 2004. Since we've been in business we've stitched so many pillows & stitcheries and along the way we have made some wonderful friends. It's the relationships with our customers that we have developed that keeps us coming up with new pillows and stitcheries. It is our goal to make your shopping experience with Primitive Pillows & Stitcheries a happy one and we want you to keep coming back. You can be assured that each pillow is handstitched by us right here in the U.S.A. We're proud of the fact that we are not mass-produced. Thank you for reading our story. We know Michael would be proud and that's what we strive for everyday.
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