3 anniversarys: fantastic, melancholy and tragic

                My brother no longer posts to his blog but has left MANY detailed posts on his facebook page.  Yesterday was a tribute to mom and some to himself for the grief of her loss.  He said he’d almost forgotten that it was 13 years ago yesterday.  His final note (after providing a detailed account of her final stages of life) was “hearts and wounds heal with time and that life continues moving forward”.

          Am I a terrible person for forgetting when she died?  She passed the day after Richard and I celebrated our 12^th wedding anniversary.  We were married two days prior to the bombing of the twin towers in New York – a day when our nation seemed to pull together to show their support.  A time when Rudy Giuliani cared about his city and seemed to be loved and respected.

          Having mom pass was disheartening, but I don’t think as disheartening as having her forget.  Having her mind in a different world apart from our own reality.  I remember that first week after we had checked her in. I remember watching a health-care worker spoon feeding one of the residents – the way one would a toddler in a high chair.  I was saddened by the sight thinking my mom would be in that position one day.  But she wasn’t.  She passed before going through all the stages.  I was glad of that.  I was happy to not have to see her being spoon fed.  I wasn’t happy that she had passed – but we had all lost her long before then.  Dementia had robbed us all.

          Three anniversaries in a row.  A great one for me and Richard.  A mixed-emotion one for my family.  A devastating one for the nation – though we do have a few positive results – the overall reasoning is just so heartbreaking. 

Restoring Legacies and Treasures

 

Richard and I will often watch BBC’s “The Repair Shop” (here) in which patrons bring their time worn heirlooms to be restored to another time.  It’s great to see so many attached to sentiments in our throw-it-out/replace/upgrade it society.  I don’t recall having any family heirlooms.

My mom had been raised in poorer circumstances with many relics that may not have been considered antiques at the time – certainly not of value either financially or sentimentally.  We threw things away and replaced them – though I remember my brother and I both hoarding “stuff” as sentiments.  Perhaps even now.  But nothing worth restoring . . . I don’t think.

I do have a set of scriptures that belonged to my mother.  The binding on the triple combination is torn in places and many of the pages have definitely seen better days.  But it is a treasure because I see where she has marked certain scriptures and written in the margin.  That for me is a treasure – something I would definitely have restored if I lived in England and could travel to the repair shop more easily than now.

The most interesting thing I think I have seen is a coconut scraper (which I had never even heard of before, but does make sense; just something the average person wouldn’t encounter or have need for) and the most touching has been with the restoration of a painting that survived war.  You can read about (and see the workmanship involved) here for one.  There are others if you would like to research it more.

Thank you to those who have the skills to make the restorations possible and for those who choose to have their legacy live on in these items.  I love to hear their stories.  And I love watching the shared talent of others.

My Church Friend

 It must have happened shortly after

she was taken to the doctor for a

different medication.  I hadn’t seen

her for a few weeks.  I called and left

a message.  I had more than once. 

People were starting to worry.  Her

family hadn’t let us know that she

was gone. 

We could have offered our assistance.  Why

didn’t they tell us she had been called home to

our Heavenly Father?  She passed two

months ago and I am just learning about

it today.  Perhaps the family didn’t know

how to get in touch with us just as we

don’t know how to get in touch with them. 

At least I didn’t.  I didn’t know her for long. 

What an impact she has made.

Watership Fawns

 

              

               Between exit 112 and 110

 I see a couple of deer quite

close to the shoulder of I5 and I

think of the doe who tried to

outrun us in this post and wonder –

do these deer not see the cars as preditors?

  For the most part I have seen fawns – perhaps

teenagers making a dare – going for the most

luscious grass near the shoulder

(which I don’t believe has any vegetation worth the risk) 

I always think of “Watership Down”

only deer instead of rabbits.

car is moving to quickly to take an accurate

picture.  I see them only on the return from

Roseburg – never toward