Saturday, June 19, 2010

Another Wonderful Gift

An old friend sent me a gift today.  Joan lost her husband about 12 years ago and has since remarried.  She and her first husband were our bowling team partners for many years.  We don't see much of them because they winter in Florida, but she and Ben were at Bill's visitation.
This is what she sent, and I love it.  I will be framing it.  And yes, it made me cry, but crying's not a bad thing :-)  Thanks, Joan.



Today was a fun day, too.  Kris and I went to Acorn Quilts in Rockford to see a binding demonstration by Kay Steinmetz.  We actually went to see Kay, so the binding demo was a bonus!  Kay is another old friend -- I took my first beginners quilt class at her shop, back in the early nineties -- she owned Quilters Cupboard in Rockford back then.  Now she's working a couple of days a month at Acorn and Kris is planning a get-together in Byron that we'll have Kay teach a class at this summer. 
It was great getting out and seeing friends, buying fabric (well, really, Leslie has this perfectly wonderful fabric in the back room that is 1/2 price -- I just can't pass it up for future backings!).
And, of course we went to lunch -- always a bonus!

Then I came home and spent about 45 minutes outside in the hot sun (dumb), pulling thistles out of the daylily bed.  I've been complaining about it for weeks, so decided a short time spent getting rid of them was in order.  There's lots more weeds, of course, but a little at a time should get the job done eventually.

Blessings:
Out and about with quilting friends -- always a fun day.
Kay Steinmetz -- a treasured quilting friend.
Attacking the weeds and finding the tomato plants.  I only planted tomato and peppers, so I really should be able to keep up on weeding them!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Thank Yous

Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers.  The grieving process has just begun and I can tell you it will be long and arduous.  I can't possibly thank everyone for all the kind words, so please know that I sincerely appreciate them all.


I'm feeling the need to have a fresh start of sorts and have started a new blog -- I will still be talking about my daily life, and eventually some quilting when I get back to it, (other things have priority right now), and I hope to make it a little more upbeat -- and try to write more often.  If you'd like to visit, it's:  http://attitudesandgratitudes.blogspot.com

Thanks, everyone, and much love.

Monday, June 07, 2010

It's Over

Bill passed away at 7:05 last night.  All the kids were down yesterday afternoon, including our brand new grandson, Michael Paul, who was born Saturday morning at 4:20 am.  We all got to say goodbye and I was with him to the end.  He's been getting steadily weaker and actually went quickly, which I am so thankful for.  Liver Cancer is one of the most painful of the cancers -- if you can differentiate between them all -- I'm sure every kind is painful.  It is extremely hard to watch someone you've loved for 29 years go through it.

We spent today making arrangements, with more to make tomorrow.  I feel like I've been on the phone all day and my throat can attest to that fact -- I have a very sore throat and earache, and I'm losing my voice, which does not bode well for the Memorial services planned.  Hopefully I can doctor it enough to make it through.

I'm going to miss him terribly , but I know he's in a better place.