Three years ago, I was rushing to work everyday, choking in my tie, and spending little time relaxing or enjoying life. Then my father’s cancer recurred. He had been diagnosed with colon cancer a few years before, but after some treatments, he seemed to have beaten it. When it returned, it did so with a vengeance. Within a year he passed away.

My father and I were quite close, and his passing effected me greatly. I decided to take some time off of work to sort things out. Most of my time was spent in front of a television in a depressed funk. One day, while cleaning out a closet, I found an old soap-making kit someone had given me as gift some time ago.

Bored, I decided to open it, and it has changed my life.

When my fiancée returned from work that night, the apartment was thick with the coconut scent that was included in the kit, and I was online, looking for more fun, healthy stuff to put into my soap.

By luck, I landed at Bramble Berry. All of a sudden I noticed that there was this world of soap, and soapers out there who were making their own soaps, lotions, shampoos, and more. I placed my first order and eagerly awaited its arrival. When it came, I was off and running. By then I had scoured the net for other suppliers and soaping ideas, and I was coming up with different ideas of my own.

My fiancée remarked recently, how she hadn’t seen me this at ease since before my dad’s illness. Believe me, by looking at me you would not peg me as a soaper, but I have found a therapy that has helped me get over my dad’s loss. I think the heavy doses of lavender, and chamomile has had some effect on my moods as well. I’ve been re-energized, and by-the-way, freed from my office, and allowed to channel my creativity, and expression into something everyone so appreciates – Who doesn’t like a good lather?

The wonderful part of all of this is that the past months have flown by, and I think I can take a viable shot at pursuing a career in this. I’ve been looking at the numbers, thinking about marketing strategies, and trying to perfect my recipes.

My latest creation, I call it Chaffer’s Delight – an athlete’s balm, is receiving a lot of good responses from friends who are using it, and I’ve had a lot of fun making other lip balms and salves, too.

I can’t thank Anne-Marie and the good people of Bramble Berry enough for sharing their world with me. As I said, I searched the net, but ended up returning to Bramble Berry every time. I haven’t had this much fun in a while, and plan on continuing.