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Emma Karo was born on February 7, 1956 in Algeria. Four years
into her life, her sister was born. Before she could truly get
to know her father, he died of liver cancer at the young age of
28. At the same time her mother was struggling to raise two daughters,
Algeria was struggling for freedom and became an unsafe place
for Jews to live. Her mother, never looking back, packed up her
belongings and decided to move to Israel and start a new life
with her family.
The boat trip over to Israel was a rough and stormy one, but
her mother always stayed positive and kept looking into the future.
When they got to Israel, they were attempting to contact family
members but were not successful. Her mom kept her positive attitude
and brought a smile and a sense of warmth to her daughters. After
being found by family members, they slowly started a new life
where her mother remarried and had five boys. A strong family
bond and a positive attitude was what her family was known for.
As Emma turned eighteen, another struggle would face her. Her
stepfather suddenly died of a stroke. Her mother, once again a
single mom - only this time with seven kids, looked to Emma's
support in raising her siblings. When Emma joined the Israeli
Army, (a duty which all Israeli citizens serve) she met Eli Karo,
her future husband. It was love at first site. After a few years
of dating, they decided to get married. Before their wedding they
came across another tragedy - her future father-in-law passed
away of a brain tumor.
Once again, she overcame what life handed her and continued on
starting her new life with Eli. After she married, her first daughter,
Adva, was born. Things were looking great with a new family of
her own. She was pregnant with her second daughter, and two weeks
prior to giving birth, death showed its ugly face. Her mother
passed away at the age of 46 from a stroke, leaving behind five
sons without a parent, all under the age of eighteen.
Emma and her husband did not think twice; they adopted all five
boys and at the same time welcomed their second daughter, Esti.
There were struggles along the way, but nothing was going to take
this family apart. Another new change was coming and Emma moved
to Denver, Colorado in 1989 with her husband and two daughters
to start a new life with a better future for her children, knowing
her brothers were grown and well taken care of. In 1991, Emma
gave birth to her son, Orr which filled the house with joy. This
joy would be short lived, as her oldest was diagnosed with Leukemia
and lost the battle only 5 weeks after being diagnosed at the
age of 12. Emma continued to be positive as she always did.
As the years passed, the pain of all the loss in her life did
not fade, but it was slowly healing through her art. She started
with food, baking and cooking, moved on to mirrors and picture
frames, then her jewelry came along. She found joy and peace in
the gems and the joy it brought to those who enjoyed it. Emma's
jewelry tells a story as deep as her life. She hand picks each
gem from different parts of the world and artfully arranges them
into a unique piece that carries her story through others. As
with the lessons she learned through life, to always rise above,
so does her jewelry. She only uses the best materials from strings
to beads in order to get the most out of the smallest, yet most
noticed part of an outfit - the accessories. Emma does not know
what other struggles might be in her future, but for the time
being, her stories are written one gem at a time.
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