MEMBERconnection
Ashes to jewelry
Movin’ & shakin’
WHEN ATTENDING a professional basketball or football game, you’ll often
find a team of young, fit women doing
dance routines to take up any slack in
the action. But now a new phenomenon is growing, with teams of senior
women sharing the floor. One such
team is the Dream Supremes, a group
of women ages 55 to 71, who perform
at home games of the Atlanta Dream
WNBA team.
Costco member Marcia Jaffe founded
the group. “It’s kind of a trend,” she says,
citing similar teams in Los Angeles,
Miami, New York and Phoenix. “People
are interested in what old people look
like—women who can still move and
look OK.”
Jaffe points out that they’re not try-
ing to compete with the younger dance
squads. The Dream Supremes’ goal is to
show “you don’t have to be neces-
sarily svelte to be fit,” she explains.
“They’re not all young chickadees.
There’s 12 [team members] and the
coach. The coach is not a senior.
She’s 53.
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COSTCO MEMBER Linda Markellis had been making fused-glass pieces for several
years when a veterinarian asked if she could
make a piece of jewelry that incorporated
ashes from the vet’s recently deceased dog.
After several attempts, Markellis’ efforts
yielded a bracelet that the woman wore on
her wedding day.
Through word of mouth, Markellis, who
lives in Whitefish, Montana, began to receive
more orders, and within a year she had a
request to use human ashes. Finding that
there are no laws against it, she accepted the
assignment and Over the Rainbow Memorials
(
www.otrmemorials.com) was born.
Markellis, along with her daughter, Krista,
makes pendants, sun catchers and more to help
people remember their loved ones. Prices start
at $100 and are based on the size and type of
object commissioned. She needs only a tea-
spoon of ashes, which are visible in the pieces.
Markellis explains that for each commis-
sioned item she asks for photos of and stories
about the loved one. “We hold the stories of
the people in our hearts as we work,” she
says. “The innate personality comes out as
we work.”
She admits that her service isn’t for every-
one, but adds, “It gives people something to
hold onto during the grieving process.”
—Stephanie E. Ponder
Family ties
DISHEARTENED AT THE extent of her young son’s medical disabilities,
Costco member Dana DeRuvo Davis set out to provide Nicholas, now 16,
with the best care possible.
