Soar-Dream-France

The Beauty...

 

 

 

 

...and magic

of red at

Christmas.

 

And, for some-

all the year

through!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to Putting Pen to Paper From France

I'm set with my information to promote "Pen to Paper From France" for sale. You should be able to find us. I've made the information available to friends on Facebook and anyone should be able to find us by going to the link below:

http://www.blurb.com/b/5786962-putting-pen-to-paper-from-france?ce=blurb_ew&utm_source=widget

Or, you can also just go to www.blurb.com and search for "Putting Pen to Paper From France." For now, it's set so you can preview the whole book. Plus, I'm not marking up the price of the book for now. 

I'll look forward to receiving any feedback or comments that you have. Enjoy!

Climatron-ing

 

 

I can't help but wonder how in the world the people at the Missouri Botanical Gardens got all of these lights up on top of the Climatron for Garden Glow. Here are a few favorite shots from our Friday night wander!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ENJOY!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Happy Sunday...

 

...Happy Holidays!

 

One of many special moments during Friday night's Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Gardens

MY BOOK

 

 

Wednesday's mail brought so much more than Christmas cards and bills. I knew the coffee table book was scheduled to arrive that day. I'd been tracking it. Our poor mailman; I didn't even give him a chance to knock. Once the mail was through the slot, I flung open the door and startled him. He said: "Oh, you must have been expecting me!" I told him that I was, and it was MY book.

 

I'm not sure that was sufficient to explain my excitement. My book could have meant just a book I'd ordered or some such thing, but this was...

 

MY BOOK!

 

I savored its arrival and pondered next steps. I'd ordered one for myself to hang on to, but 2 more: one for Mom and Dad (to whom it is dedicated) and another for Kat and Tom who have been with me along the way. I enlisted the assistance of my silly snowman puppets from the Dollar Tree to be my emissaries, et voila!

 

 

 

Yesterday turned out to be THE day. Kat and I had plans to go out and see Mom and Dad in the afternoon, and then she and Tom and I were heading to the Missouri Botanical Gardens for the Garden Glow Christmas lights! I had a hard time waiting. I wanted to share it right away, but it needed to be with Mom and Dad together and Kat and Tom together. It all worked perfect.

 

Mom and Dad were stunned and excited. Kat and Tom were thrilled. Me, I hold it in my hands and know that: Yes, it really all did happen, and even in the midst of the insanity...I have home and this magical place in my life that is waiting there for me!

 

 

 

 

Seriously Santa

 

 

It was fun to see "Santa in Waiting" on Saturday at the Galleria. Kat and I had passed on his level, but these shots from on high were the best. How much fun to see the patience, the setting, and the sweet time and conversation that he had with this little boy. This Santa truly made each little child feel special. Happy Holidays!

 

 

 

Military Merci Moments

The Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

...a flag draped coffin, taps, the gun salute, the triangular folding of the American Flag, its gifting to the widow, and our gratefulness to the one and the many.

 

 

 

 

A Celebration of Family

 

 

Sharing an old post with you today from the family cemetery visit I made with Mom to South County all up and down Gravois. She has another cemetery outing planned today with our wonderful Care Manager, Diane Smith. I hope that seeing this post will be helpful and make the visit a little easier. Huge Merci to Diane-Love to Mom.

 

Knowing that we were going to be doing the cemetery circuit in south St, Louis after the funeral, got me busy and the wheels turning. The seasonal flowers and fill looked pretty, but I wanted something to make it all a little more special and poignant. What else? Mardi Gras beads! I already knew that there was a huge stash in a bag upstairs, so I chose some of the pretty but simpler ones to leave with our family members who have passed on.

 

Our challenges were many. First, Mom didn't always remember exactly where we were going. Then, mausoleums make it difficult to do anything. Add in that Nannie and Papa and Aunt Ethel and Uncle Bill are way up at the top and we'd have needed a ladder to reach them at all. It was even difficult to get a photo, not to mention the visiting birds! Their flowers and beads ended up in a cememt planter nearby. They looked just as pretty, but just not what I had in mind.

 

At Gatewood Gardens, most of the rest of Mom's family can be found. Just across the street is the Catholic Cemetery where Grandma and Grandpa Bourgeois are buried. We weren't able to find them. We even had special Mardi Gras beads for them, but we'll just have to go back some other time. This repurposing Mardi Gras beads was a really nice touch! Now, I'm going to have to keep a cemetery stash!

 

 

A Tisket A Tasket...

 

 

...a cemetery basket, came together much nicer and easier than I expected when I sat down in the middle of the living room floor yesterday.

It all felt daunting to me. Even though I love "cemeteries" and go to wander and shoot photos, I don't believe that it's necessary to make the pilgrimage to the cemetery to see the "family".

Mine are with me in spirit, anytime, anywhere, anyhow and way; and, I love that they are close and visit regularly.

 

 

 

Nonetheless, this is important to Mom. I had my list of people and cemeteries and went to work. Not only do we have piles of pretty little red-ribboned bouquets to put on each grave; we have a little "lagniappe" with a special New Orleans flavor. Can you guess what that might be? Tomorrow, I'll share the visit and the answer. Stay tuned!

 

Gratefulness x Two

 

 

 

Coming home from a day of "retail therapy" with Kat; we sat beside the Christmas tree with warm drinks and cookies sorting life and living with Mom and Dad done their way.

 

 

 

 

 

So much has happened here in the almost 4 months now that I've been in Ferguson. I always seem to be looking back and ahead, even though I still try to be as present in the moment as possible. I'm always asking myself how something went and what can I do to try to make it work better in the future. There hasn't been a lot of time for that kind of pondering here. We're all just too busy doing, getting done, and responding. When one of my cousins lost her husband unexpectedly this week, we were back responding once more.

This loss brought Mom and Dad home in a really big way. We have them both. All you have to do is look around Hidden Lake assisted living to see that a "team of two" is rare at this stage of the game. As difficult as it can be to coordinate with both of them and their "relationship", we are grateful that they are both here with us and together. Tomorrow, Mom and I will go to the funeral together in south St. Louis. Afterwards, she wants to make a trip to the various cemeteries nearby where all of the family are buried. Then, she'll be back to spend a few days with me at 411. It's important. It needs to be their way.

 

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