A Blending of Bits and Blogs - 2010

 August 18, 2000

Butterfly Hand photo and poem

Captivated by this face. Then, now, always.

Don't know 

Enjoying the entire process of growth

Finding joy in old journals led me to this post from March 2010

Gentle with the wings...

Hands

"In that moment, we both knew we would always be together. And for those first years, we were incredibly, terrifyingly, happy." ~  The Last Station  

Judge nothing, you will be happy. Forgive everything, you will be happier. Love everything, you will be happiest. ~ Law of Attraction

"Keep walking, though there's no place to get to. Don't try to see through the distance. That's not for human beings." ~ Rumi

"Like a wild flower; she spent her days, allowing herself to grow, not many knew of her struggle, but eventually all; knew of her light." ~ Nikki Rowe

Making memories: "You are not just my heart but it's beating"  ~ Shadow of Night

November 2010 

"Our passion for life is quietly sustained from somewhere in us that is wedded to the energy and excitement of life." ~ John O'Donohue

Poetry and pictures

"...Quiet light that shines in every heart. It draws no attention to itself though it is always secretly there. It is what illuminates our minds to see beauty, our desire to seek possibility and our hearts to love life. Without this subtle quickening our days would be empty and wearisome, and no horizon would ever awaken our longing." ~  John O'Donohue

"...Shy inner light is what enables us to recognize and receive our very presence here as blessing. We enter the world as strangers who all at once become heirs to a harvest of memory, spirit, and dream that has long preceded us and will now enfold, nourish, and Sustain us." ~ John O'Donohue

Thank you for sharing your youth and your desire for happiness with me... so young and pure...

Upside-down self portrait June 5, 2010

Venerable: calling forth respect through age, character, and attainments; conveying an impression of aged goodness and benevolence

Words have tremendous power. for example:

eXcavating: always makes me think of Michael Morrone

"You have to connect your own dots..."

Zest-filled Summer vision/memory board

Flat Stanley, A First Grader's Love for Grandpa

Grandpa's grin says it all. You helped him have fun, feel useful, accepted and loved with this "simple" request: Will you please take Flat Stanley with you, and then send him back to me? My Dad had convinced himself, and nearly everyone around him, that he could neither read nor write. There were times in my life when he was so much fun to be around, yet his spirit had begun to fade... until his grandchildren began to arrive.

On January 10, 1977, John B. Law Jr became a Grandpa. He was 43 years old when he fell in love with his first grandchild, Kristen Marie. He had his struggles and frustrations with the noise level and commotion of parties and visits as the years went by and our family kept on growing. He was just shy of 63 when I gave birth to his 13th grandchild, and two months later, your cousin Amanda Kathryn Law was born. On his 64th birthday, he shared his birthday with his 15th grandchild, Matthew John Mitchell and then in Sept 2000, Nicholas Law became the 16th Law grandchild. Ten years later, we began welcoming the "greats" : Ava, Madeline, Ashlyn, and two days after his 83th birthday, Violet Mae. He adored each and every one, but I felt and witnessed his love for you, and I have no doubt that his abiding love continues to envelop us all.

This amazing 70 year old, your Grandpa, was thrilled that you asked him to participate in your class project. We lived more than 500 miles away, and during your school years, trips to Connecticut were fewer. Perhaps it was because he had worked so hard for so much of his life at a job he no longer loved, and now had one he enjoyed, felt useful and had friends. (Flat Stanley visited the Stonington Police Department, and came back to us with a patch to prove it!). It think it was simply because you asked. In doing so, you let him know you believed he could, which lifted his fears, and his heart, knowing you believed in him. You erased his disbelief in himself by believing. Thank you for being YOU! I adore and admire you, more than words can say, and am grateful for new eyes with which to view our lives from a new perspective. xoxo Love, Mom