Boy, what a week.
Last week was teaching in Bloomington, IL, for the Hands All Around Quilt Guild. (Hi, dears! I had a great time!) After a few days washing clothes, putting up corn (hey, it was on sale!), and putting stuff away, it was on the road again.
I just flew into Houston today, ready for work. Three of us are here at IQA through Saturday: long hours, but the others are great, and it will be interesting! (I can tell you more about specifics after the job's done.)
Got a phone call at the Houston airport, though: my aunt Max died. She'd had heart trouble for some time, and had been admitted to the hospital last night. Another heart attack took her this morning -- and quickly.
This auntie, and her husband Archie, were major sources of encouragement in my life. Archie was my fourth-grade teacher, and a writer who encouraged this girl to keep trying in the publishing world. He believed in me even when I wasn't so sure about myself.
Uncle Archie died a few years back. I can just see them rejoicing at being together again!
I can't be there for her funeral. But I can call her daughter, and pass on how much Aunt Max meant to me.
It has been a rough period for losing people -- and personalities -- we love. Daughter #1's dog Jack died in a freak landslide this weekend, lost while she was hiking in Chautauqua Park, near Boulder. Jack stayed with us so often that he became partly our dog. And he was our Charley's dear companion. The only consolation was that he died quickly, with no struggle. We brought Jack back home, and buried him by our other dogs.( I planted a Russian sage on his grave -- because he had become so, well, you know. And I have plans to add a bed of mint -- because he was worth just that.)
Daughter's apartment is a lonely place tonight.
I desperately want to make things easier for her. I want to comfort my cousins in person. But I have responsibilities. I need to stay here, and do my job. But it doesn't stop me thinking of them, and keeping them in my prayers. A call, a reminder: "I love you. And it will get better."
And it will.
Last week was teaching in Bloomington, IL, for the Hands All Around Quilt Guild. (Hi, dears! I had a great time!) After a few days washing clothes, putting up corn (hey, it was on sale!), and putting stuff away, it was on the road again.
I just flew into Houston today, ready for work. Three of us are here at IQA through Saturday: long hours, but the others are great, and it will be interesting! (I can tell you more about specifics after the job's done.)
Got a phone call at the Houston airport, though: my aunt Max died. She'd had heart trouble for some time, and had been admitted to the hospital last night. Another heart attack took her this morning -- and quickly.
This auntie, and her husband Archie, were major sources of encouragement in my life. Archie was my fourth-grade teacher, and a writer who encouraged this girl to keep trying in the publishing world. He believed in me even when I wasn't so sure about myself.
Uncle Archie died a few years back. I can just see them rejoicing at being together again!
I can't be there for her funeral. But I can call her daughter, and pass on how much Aunt Max meant to me.
It has been a rough period for losing people -- and personalities -- we love. Daughter #1's dog Jack died in a freak landslide this weekend, lost while she was hiking in Chautauqua Park, near Boulder. Jack stayed with us so often that he became partly our dog. And he was our Charley's dear companion. The only consolation was that he died quickly, with no struggle. We brought Jack back home, and buried him by our other dogs.( I planted a Russian sage on his grave -- because he had become so, well, you know. And I have plans to add a bed of mint -- because he was worth just that.)
Daughter's apartment is a lonely place tonight.
I desperately want to make things easier for her. I want to comfort my cousins in person. But I have responsibilities. I need to stay here, and do my job. But it doesn't stop me thinking of them, and keeping them in my prayers. A call, a reminder: "I love you. And it will get better."
And it will.
No comments:
Post a Comment