It only took a little girl's memory of her mother's jewelry

Almost 10 years ago, a woman discovered She Beads. Instantly she made a connection with founder & owner, Sandy Rueve. This woman, Carol Solheim, at the time had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. Constantly building up her She Beads Pink Ribbon collection, Carol became a memorable customer of Sandy's. Carol later lost her battle with breast cancer.

Only a few weeks ago, Carol Solheim's daughter, Juliana, returned again to see the store her mother would always rave about. As soon as Juliana walked around the She Beads studio, she saw a sailboat pattern that reminded her of her mother. Immediately Juliana made a connection between her upcoming Pink Bow fundraiser and She Beads. She planned to gift all of her attendees with wrist keychains that featured that same priceless sailboat. 

July 13, 2012: Juliana spoke in front of hundreds of women at her Pink Bow Luncheon of her mother's battle and legacy. Here are her words: 

"​In 2003, shortly after my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, she discovered the treasure of a store called She Beads just up the road from us in Wilmette, Illinois. The same town my mom grew up in. My mom fell in love with the unique hand-made jewelry and soon started buying bracelets,necklaces and earrings as Christmas presents for all the girls in the family and her close friends. She in particular loved her bracelets with the pink breast cancer ribbon on them. 

Fast forward to April of 2012. I decided it was time to venture to She Beads and get my mom’s old jewelry resized so I could finally wear it. I walked into the store on a whim assuming I at the very least would finally get the jewelry resized and ready to wear. For all the times my mom had spent in this store I had somehow managed to miss out.

I was excited to see where my mom had secretly escaped to all those years.  Upon walking in, I pulled out my old jewelry to see what could be done. When I stepped inside, I was greeted by Andrew and Sandy Rueve. I pulled out my mother’s jewelry to see what could be done. Sandy instantly commented,  "WOW… these are some old pieces from when we first opened up the store! I can’t believe it." 

Soon I began talking about my mother's connection to the bracelets, necklaces and the pink ribbon. Sandy asked if she could see a picture of my mom. I quite honestly thought what are the odds that she would remember my mom. It’s had been years since my mom was last in. I happened to only have an old picture of her on my phone similar to the one on our your table handout. I said you probably won’t recognize her in this photo… this picture was taken before she lost her lusciously long Alison Wonderland blonde locks to the aggressive chemotherapy. Sandy immediately said “oh no I remember her, she use to come in the store all the time!”  This was the moment I began my mission to incorporate these meaningful beads into this luncheon. I included the sailboat bead on each bracelet, as it is symbol of Lake Geneva, a place she loved and spent her summers growing up in."