Remembrance teddy bears become vocation for woman

It started with a child who lost her mother -- one who tried desperately to hold onto her by cuddling pieces of her mother's clothing while she slept.

"A neighbor knew that I sewed, and she asked me if I would consider making a teddy bear for this little girl," said Renee Kluber.

"I was so touched by the request that I agreed to do it."

Kluber is an accomplished seamstress who actually makes clothing to celebrate the beginning of life.

"I make custom-designed christening gowns and I sell them through a religious store in Wheaton," she said.

"I had never done anything like this (teddy bears) before."

The girl's grandmother brought Kluber pieces of clothing that the mom had worn, and a pattern for a teddy bear.

Kluber, knowing how important this was to both the grandmother and the child, carefully cut pieces of the cherished fabric and pieced them together to make a teddy bear that could be cuddled and loved.

While some would look at this as just another sewing project, Renee Kluber realized its importance.

"When I worked on that first bear, I felt that this was what I was supposed to be doing," she said.

She began taking more requests for the bears.

There was the woman who wanted to give a lasting remembrance of her mother to her sisters who were about to be married.

"She had two sisters getting married, and she wanted to take her mother's wedding dress and make bears for them. Their mother had made the wedding dress, and it was a way to give something to the girls from their mother, who had passed away," Kluber explained.

The bears took on a new meaning for Kluber when her daughter, Rachel, lost a good friend last year.

The two girls had been best friends in middle school and then went to different schools for high school. The girls had rekindled their friendship right before a tragic accident occurred that claimed the young friend's life.

Being able to make a bear for the friend's mom helped Kluber deal with her own grief.

Each bear is unique -- and Kluber is sensitive to the difficulty in even making the request for the bear.

"It is so hard when people have lost someone that they love," she said.

"If I can give them something to hold onto, that they can love, I feel that is what I should do."

I guess you would call Renee Kluber's bears a home-based business but somehow, I feel it is much more than that.

She doesn't do it for the money. She only charges $10 an hour to make them.

No, it seems to be more of a ministry for her. She speaks lovingly of the people who have requested bears, and seemed a little hesitant to even do this story.

We all look for ways to connect with those we have lost.

Kluber's teddy bears give us one more way to hold onto the memories of those we have loved: through the sight and touch of a cuddly bear.

"Making these bears just feels right for me," said Kluber.

"This really is what I am meant to do."