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Kristy Boike, a New Prague Minnesota mother of four, was a pre-school teacher and stay at home mom before her mother, a nurse, came down with cancer and died at the age of 60. During her mother’s 18-month struggle, and then her passing, she watched her father, Ron, deal with his grief by making bird houses for Bluebirds. “Bluebirds were my mother’s favorite bird,” Kristy said. “After a while dad (Ron) had made a bunch of bird houses, about a dozen, and he asked me to find a home for them on Facebook. He doesn’t do Facebook. We received more than 100 requests for birdhouses when I told the story about why they were created.”
Soon, there were people wondering if Ron could teach people how to make the houses. With that, Ron began holding workshops for church groups, Boy Scout troops, daycares and assisted living facilities. And dad, said Kristy, kept making more houses for blue birds, and people started sending letters, cards, books, explaining how the bird houses helped them deal with their grief.
“When we kept getting more and more orders I enlisted my children, ages 16, 15, 14, and five to help dad build more birdhouses.”
Today, said Kristy, the family has made, sold and distributed more than 7,000 bluebird houses.
So, where does all of that money go?
“My mother received tremendous care at Our Lady of Peace, a hospice she stayed in until she passed away. All of the proceeds from the bluebird houses goes there.”
While her father dealt with his grief by using his hands and carpentry skills, Kristy channeled her grief into writing a book. The self-published hardcover Rise up, Little Bluebirds, is illustrated by Kathryn Inkson, an artist from northeast England. It’s a beautiful book set to nursery rhyme. Pages are filled with pictures of animals who help each other overcome the loss of a loved one.
Cost to publish the book was high, more than $20,000. But so far, the public has responded very positively to the story and when she was in Grand Marais two weeks ago, she quickly sold the 60 copies she brought with her to the Lake Superior Trading Post.
Kristy tells a quick story about how the publishing date kept getting pushed back. And back some more. It was frustrating but finally when the book came out it arrived on her mother’s birthday. Coincidence?
She just shrugs her shoulders at the happy occurrence.
“I hope it (the book) can get picked up by a publishing house,” Kristy said. Afterall, investing $20,000 in a book is a lot for a working family to invest.
If not, so far, she has received more chances to tell her story than she could imagine. “I have been on the Today show, the Martha Stewart Show, and in People magazine. Mark Zuckerberg sent a film crew to my house to film what we were doing. Mark found my story because I was using Facebook Market Place to sell the birdhouses.”
It’s never a bad day when Mark Zuckerberg sends a film crew to your house to help you tell your story, right? She smiled broadly and nodded her head in agreement.
Shy by nature, Kristy has also taken on speaking engagements to talk about her journey, and to share her mother’s legacy of kindness. “My mother was a labor delivery nurse. She was the epitome of love. When I worked on my book or help with the birdhouses, I feel my mother’s presence. This has been difficult, but it’s been a labor of love. I hope it’s helped other people. I hope to create a Rise up Bluebird healing space for people to come to. Losing my mother was tremendously hard, but something beautiful has come out of it. I can feel her through all of this. I can feel my mom working through me.”
Editor’s note: You can find “Rudolph’s Bluebird Houses” on Facebook. And Kristie’s book can be purchased through the site as well.
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