Sara’s Deer Necklace: Honoring Her Story, Legacy, and ALS Awareness

I reached out to Sara on Instagram back in July 2025 about creating a necklace to honor her and her story. After some discussion about the details, she came back with the idea for the deer. 

‘I am a deer: intense, but loving eyes, watchful, and resilient. I asked Lincoln, my 9-year-old son, how he wants me to show up for him. He said a deer. I have a deck of spirit animal cards and one night, he said “I want a message for Mom, that is loving, maybe I will pull a deer” and he did. He said “I will know that it is you in the eyes.” The card literally said loving mother, so I told him that is our sign. Then I looked up what it meant and the deer represents a blend of strength and gentleness. It symbolizes kindness, peace, and living in harmony with nature, often seen as a messenger of love and a guide during times of transition.’

I immediately loved the idea of a deer charm. We had a lot of back and forth as I tried to find the perfect charm for her. Unfortunately, there weren’t any gold-filled options that I could find, and it was important to her to have a smaller charm, with a ‘dainty aesthetic.’ 

After agreeing on the final charm, we finally launched her necklace in October. I had only ordered 20 charms to start, because I didn’t have enough of a budget to order more than that. So in trying to be a smart and strategic small business owner, I typically order a small amount to start to gauge how popular an item will be before I invest in a higher quantity.

Her necklace sold out within two hours.

So I immediately ordered more charms and restocked them as soon as I could.

Her deer necklace quickly became the most popular from the ALS necklace collection. It speaks volumes as to how loved this woman was- that everyone wants a way to feel connected to her and carry around/wear her story.

That’s why these necklaces mean so much to me and this community.

That said, I wanted to share some important information, because sometimes I’m just overly transparent, and maybe that’s bad for business, but I’m human and want your trust.

There’s an issue with the quality of the deer charm. I’ve been informed that it has tarnished quickly for some people. It is a plated charm, and plated jewelry doesn’t always play well. But that plated charm was the only one I could find that fit what her vision was.

I was very torn about whether to restock it. I want people to have this opportunity to support Sara’s story and legacy- but I didn’t want to upset anyone with a poor quality necklace.

After hearing from so many of you that despite knowing it was a plated charm, you still wanted the opportunity to ‘support the cause and to have a token to always remember Sara,’ even if it meant you couldn’t wear the necklace everyday.

So I made the decision to order more charms and keep her necklace in stock so long as I am able to continue sourcing this specific charm she wanted.

I provide this story so you can make an informed decision on whether you’d like to get one or not. Five dollars from each necklace sale is donated to ALS Therapy Development Institute. So if you decide not to get a necklace, I’d encourage you to make a donation to ALS TDI in her memory instead.

Thank you all for this continued support as I navigate curating this incredibly meaningful  collection of necklaces that honor some of the strongest warriors.