Rita's Legacy

My dear sweet mother-in-law went home to her Lord this morning around 3:00. Her passing was peaceful, which was a blessing. And the most amazing thing is that she passed on May 3, which is the exact date that her husband Gene died, 20 years ago today. God is good. All the time.

This is the art piece I worked on all week: Rita's Legacy. In fact, I finished it only last night. She is the mother of 10, grandmother of 30, great grandmother of 15. I wanted to honor that in some visual way. So I decided to depict each family member with a heart, symbolizing her love. The blue hearts represent children and thier spouses (because we all felt her motherliness also, in very strong ways), the orange hearts represent grandchildren, and the lime green represent great grandchildren. I chose the "tree" format to symbolize her family tree; I spraypainted lilac branches silver. When the hearts were all added--with wire and beads--it looked like it still needed something, so I added the ribbons for color and to represent our prayers.

It felt good doing this piece, to honor a lady who is the epitome of the word mother. For those of us for whom she was not our actual mother, she was still our role model of a mother. Rest in peace, dearest Rita. You will be missed.

Orange Days

This morning I found Mr. Oriole was enjoying the orange I set out for him yesterday. I shot this, sitting from my spot at the kitchen table, zooming in through the picture window. Can't believe it came out so clear! If you've never heard the song of an Oriole, you've missed one of Nature's Blessings. It is clear and sweet, quite unique.

It was good to have this little gift this morning, as life is feeling a little foggy these days. Phil's mother, Rita, is in her final days. His sister, Kathleen, has taken her in and hospice is involved. Last night she perked up a bit, ate a little bit of popsicle and actually responded to Phil's good-bye by saying, "I love you too."

This will be the closest I've ever been to watching someone die. So it's a learning experience on many levels. I see each family member responding in their own unique way. Emotions are all over the place--tears, silence, laughter, stories, questions. I see family coming together, expressing their love to one another and to Rita. I see how very important faith is during this process. I see the power of prayer at work. I see how the body physically begins to shut down, and how the spirit waivers back and forth between this world and the next. Yes, I am learning much. Perhaps this is Rita's gift to us.

First Boat Outing 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our first outing on the boat Friday was spectacular. Warm and breezy on the river, and after dinner we caught this sunset from our dock. THEN the stars all came out! It was just fabulous.

Spring is busting out all over!

This morning the pear tree was in full regallia! It looks like a fluffy white cloud. Shasta was enjoying its shade even. And my two tulips became 6! The other 4 are this bright yellow. AND to top it all off, a gorgeous orange and black Oriole was at the feeder just a few minutes ago, sipping away at the grape jelly (which became grape juice overnight with the rain). I quickly ran out and replaced it with fresh jelly. And now we're off for an afternoon and overnight at the boat. LOVIN IT!

Two Tulips

After all the cold and rain, it was a joy to find these two tulips fully open this morning, their happy faces open towards the warm sun. Looks like there will be at least 4 more of them. They're so bright, they almost look like poppies. If I get a chance today, I will try to sketch them. They're just so happy and bright. Did I mention that I just LOVE Spring?!!

Today is off to Mary's for SoulCollage. I'm so excited to have a group for this; I've been wanting to form a group for years now. Apparently, the time is right.

For now I'm going to sit on the sunporch and finish the newspaper with a cup of coffee, then take Shasta for a walk. I just love being retired.....

Addison's Collage

Addison was here today while Amy & Mike went birthday shopping for her party tomorrow. I can't believe she's going to be 3.

So of course we had to do a little craft project. She was very much into using the glue stick. Most pieces have glue under AND on top of them. She kept commenting, "This is beautiful!" and "Perfect!" after each addition.

As you can see, I had fun too.

Grandma is happy to have yet another budding artist to play with! Happy Birthday to my little sweetheart.

Hyacinth Day

It's a hyacinth day! I planted these just last Fall and they picked today to dress up in all their full glory. I didn't realize they would be various colors. The blue-purple ones came up first, but today I see there are pink and cream colored ones too.

I'm so glad I took the time last Fall to plant these bulbs. What a payoff this Spring!