WELCOME!

The creation of these puzzles started as a distraction from my broken heart after the untimely death of my 17 year old son Riley.  I want to share with people this labor of love as a way to honor his memory. 

I hope you find joy in these puzzles. If you have any questions just ask. 

Who we are

My name is Tracy, although my favorite person in the world calls me "Mom".

My only son Riley died October 09th, 2022. In the days after his death panic overwhelmed me. With every passing minute I was afraid his memory was vanishing.  I wanted to hold onto every second of every memory.  I didn't want to move forward without him, how could I? This was a very scary place to be, I was stuck.How did we get here?  He had just started his senior year of High School.  There was so much to look forward to.As the weeks passed I needed to find a way to continue on, honor his life. This is what he wanted me to do.Every Christmas Riley would give me a puzzle, he knew I loved puzzles. He would call me Tinkerbelle, it was fitting as I was always tinkering with something and puzzles of any kind were lots of fun for me.
Riley was so good with animals, he had a way with them that was captivating to watch. Seeing life through his eyes was beautiful.

Making puzzles gave me a purpose, kept my mind busy and helped me feel close to Riley. I could hear his laugh when I chose cedar for the pig puzzle, I could hear him saying how the pig looked like bacon, he had such a great sense of humor. I needed to keep going and not get stuck.

In many ways life is like a puzzle, some pieces may seem to fit without a lot of effort and other times we have to wait to see pieces fall into place. Breath. Hold on. Don't give up, the struggles will level out.

Riley wasn’t a depressed kid, he was outgoing, funny, kind and so loving. He struggled with issues that most kids at the age of 17 face. He wanted to be independent, work things out on his own, and yet the choices he made at the end left him feeling even further stuck. The three and a half week death spiral was in his head, he was stuck and didn’t see a way out.
It was all temporary.

We all can find ourselves stuck, it rains on everyone, breath. Please know you matter! Your piece in this puzzle of life does matter!

My hope is that these puzzles honor Riley’s life! Every puzzle is marked on one of the inside pieces with L.O.R. to honor the *Life of Riley*