She still created - Emily Archambault continues her daughter’s legacy

by Mara Dresner

Contributing Writer

Pillows filled with cracked corn might seem like an unusual item to bond over. But for Emily Archambault and her daughter Amanda Archambault Burney making and selling the pillows strengthened their connection.

After Burney’s death in June 2024, Archambault decided to keep making the pillows as a tribute to her daughter.

Emily Archambault makes and sells pillows in memory of her daughter, Amanda Archambault Burney. (Dresner)

“Amanda did not have a very easy life. She was epileptic and she was a trooper. She was probably one of the strongest women I knew, but she didn’t think so,” Archambault said.

“She would have a seizure and call me when she was in high school and say, ‘I didn’t bite my tongue, I didn’t bang my head.’ She would brush her teeth and go to school.”

As an adult, she worked as a paraprofessional, including at King Philip Middle School and Whiting Lane School in West Hartford.

“She married and had her son Elijah, who’s the love of my life,” Archambault said. “Most of her strength after she had Elijah came from Elijah.”

Amanda Archambault Burney took a moment for a photo just before she filled the bird feeder in the woods behind her mother’s condo. Emily Archambault said her late daughter loved the cardinals. (submitted)

Burney’s seizures started getting worse and about three years ago she began having seizures at school.

“She was a para for special ed kids. West Hartford had to let her go,” Archambault said.

“Amanda became clinically depressed. She and Elijah moved in with me, which was quite the thing because I only have two bedrooms. The more Amanda did nothing, the more she got depressed. I said you’ve got to do something,’” Archambault recalled.

She is a quilter and had noticed that the Elks were having a craft fair. She thought that maybe there was an opportunity for her daughter to make something to sell at the fair.

“I said to Amanda ‘let’s do pillows.’ I had made them in my 20s, when I didn’t have money to buy gifts, so you made things. I’ve been making them for 50 years. She agreed.”

Tammy Gibbs, owner of Spirit Scented (formerly Tammy’s Soap), and Amanda Archambault Burney at their first craft show. (submitted)

 The pair began to make the pillows in a variety of sizes and fabrics. They can be used either hot or cold.

Archambault also introduced her daughter to Tammy Gibbs, the owner of Spirit Scented (formerly Tammy’s Soap) based in New Britain.

“A friendship was developed between Tammy and Amanda and they continued to do shows together,” Archambault said. “They were the odd couple. Amanda was not an overly friendly person. She was very guarded.”

In addition to working at the craft fairs they would make soap.

“Tammy would come and pick up Amanda and they would make soap. They both just developed a friendship and really because of the scents, the fragrance, the color, it would wake her up. If Amanda was in a not-so-good place, scent would bring her out of it,” Archambault said.

Her daughter began to enjoy working the craft fairs.

Pillows from Amanda’s Pillows are displayed at a craft show at Hawk’s Landing in Southington.

 She loved talking to people as she sold the pillows. She didn’t originally, then she started coming out of her shell, once she started opening up and seeing people respond to her,” Archambault said.

She added that her daughter was just as likely to give away the pillows as to sell them.

“Amanda would give them out. She’d see a little kid and say, ‘do you want a pillow for your mother?’ It was never the purpose to make a lot of money. The purpose was to give Amanda purpose and it did. It gave her joy.”

They did craft shows, such as the ones at the Wethersfield Elks Club, Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown and Griswold Middle School in Rocky Hill. Archambault handled the business end of things.

“I was able to find the shows, do the applications, pay for the fees. Amanda and Tammy worked together for about one-and-a-half years,” she said.

Then the unthinkable happened.

“One Friday night Amanda had a grand mal [seizure] and went into cardiac arrest and she passed a week later. It was certainly unexpected, she was 45,” Archambault said.

She decided to keep selling the pillows in memory of her daughter, although she admits it wasn’t an easy decision.

“I really don’t do things so much in the summer. Tammy, she was devastated. I decided to go along with Tammy [to the craft shows], sometimes grudgingly. It would be 90-degree weather in the summer. It was not fun. I wanted to honor Amanda. I wasn’t ready to let the collection go.”

Proceeds from Amanda’s Pillows go into a trust fund for Elijah.

“My mother, continuing to sell the pillows, that was a way for her to stay connected to my sister. I truly believe it helped her through the grieving process of losing a child,” Johannah Nevico, Burney’s sister, said.

Nevico has been a special education teacher for more than three decades.

“I was drawn to teaching because of the struggles that I saw my sister go through. Amanda was a very spirited child who was held back because of her epilepsy, which affected much of her learning. This did not stop her spirit of perseverance. She was a fighter, a fierce fighter,” she said.

“Amanda loved her family as fiercely as anyone could. Her son Elijah was everything to her. When she started making pillows it gave her a purpose and something that she could be proud of. It was a way to connect with people, as well. She was never a huge talker, but she had great one-liners.”

Archambault, who grew up in Hartford, also worked in education. She called her daughter’s story one of strength and perseverance and said the pillows brought the pair closer together.

“To be honest, it was two women living together in very small quarters and she did not want to be here. If we did not agree on things, either Amanda or I would say ‘let’s go make pillows.’ That was our way of reconnecting and getting out of dark places,” she said.

“Amanda would sit here and I would see her spiraling. She didn’t want to talk about her depression, but she fought through it. She was amazing. That would be our love language. Let’s go make pillows. I knew she would have to work herself out of going down that rabbit hole. Through depression and seizures, she still created.”

Making the pillows now is bittersweet. Archambault said she works “really hard on positive things.”

One thing that makes her smile is recalling how her daughter always thought the pillows needed more stuffing.

“I never filled them enough, according to Amanda. She would say ‘fill them up more.’ We would go at it. She was stubborn,” Archambault said with a laugh.

“Now when I make the pillows, I can hear her say ‘fill up the pillows.’ It is still a way that I stay connected with Amanda.” RHL