goodbye sweet zephyr

Zephyr means gentle breeze.

Everything about Zephyr was gentle.

Her coo was soft and soothing.

She taught me what it meant to be

harmless, pure...

The peaceful dove has always been a symbol of innocence.

She lived a good, long life.

Doves have a life expectancy

in captivity of 10 to 15 years.

She was with us for nearly 20.

Goodbye, sweet Zephyr.

We'll miss you.

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

Matthew 10:6

such is life

Last Saturday was a day of mixed emotions

It was my birthday!

But,

my sweet Mom was, and still is, in the hospital.

(It's for this reason, and numerous computer/blogger??glitches...grrr,

that I have been unable to post lately.)

Yesterday she told me she was. ready. to. die.

And,

it was my first birthday without my Dad.

My parents, affectionately known as

"G & G"

(Grammie and Grandad)

used to stop by with coffee

from Dunkin Donuts (my favorite :))
every Saturday morning.

(Occasionally my husband joined us,

but usually he was running
the Youth Basketball League here in town. (His bliss!)

Besides coffee they'd bring

chocolate munchkins for the great grandkids,

muffins for themselves,

and a lemon-filled donut for me!

It was our routine.

familiar

still in my pajamas

SIMPLE

easy

&

FAMILY comfortable

We'd catch up on the previous week's activities

and delight in watching my sweet grandkids

DANCE

and sing

and run

and live

with sweet abandon.

It was always the same.

{Gosh, I haven't had a lemon-filled donut in six months!}

Funny, isn't it, how it's the

Predictable

TAKE FOR GRANTED

MOMENTS

that mean so much when they're gone.

{SIGH}

I did, however, receive many

gifts and

good wishes

from family

and friends

to bring

sprinklings of joy

to my day.

Don't take life for granted...It is a gift from God...

thank Him for every breath...

P.S. I told the kids in my class that I was celebrating the

24th anniversary of my 29th birthday...

It kinda blew their minds!!!

Remember, they're only 7...
Kinda blows my mind too!

:)

love you, dad

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8  Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror;

then we shall see face to face.

Now I know in part;

 then I shall know fully,

even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain:

faith,

hope

and

 love.

 

But

the

greatest

of

 these

is

love.
1 Corinthians 13

The Lord in his mercy came this evening to take my Dad to be with him.

 My heart aches with the loss, but my Spirit rejoices in Christ, my Saviour.
Dad has found
Peace.
Rest.
Joy.
Like none we've ever known here on earth.
Thank you, Jesus.
Love you, Dad.
I'll
miss
you
always.
But we'll meet again,
and when we do,
there will be
no
more
cancer
or
death
or
tears.

Until then,
I'll always be,
your girl.
XXOO

"You’re the end of the rainbow, my pot of gold.

You're daddy's little girl, to have and hold.
A precious gem is what you are;
You're mommy's bright and shining star.
You’re the spirit of Christmas, the star on the tree.
You’re the Easter Bunny to Mommy and me.
You’re sugar, you're spice, and you're everything nice
And You’re Daddy’s Little Girl.
You’re a treasure I cherish, all sparkling and bright.
You were touched by a Holy and beautiful light;
Like the angels who sing, a heavenly thing;
And you’re Daddy’s Little Girl."

I can still hear him singing.

Lord, have mercy, please...

{Details for the pumpkin inspiration party can be found in my two previous posts.}

My Dad

spent a good portion of this summer filling out  forms and

visiting doctors to determine the best course of action to

fight

his

cancer.

Well, I'm afraid that the

cancer

seems

to

be

winning.

Amazingly, my sweet, little mom seems to be mustering

up a great deal of strength to handle each day. 

And my brother has been a godsend, truly.

 I don't know what we would have done if he wasn't here.

I, on the other hand,

despite a deep and abiding faith, 

feel as if I am on an emotional roller coaster

and find myself in tears at the drop of a hat.

We should know more

when the tests come back that determine

just how badly the cancer has spread.

The hospice nurse comes tomorrow.

Just a few short weeks ago

Dad looked like the picture of health.

Now he is just hanging on.

Mom said today,

"He is in God's hands."

There could be no place better, really.

I'll just miss him so much.

When I was just a little girl, my mom taught Sunday school.

I remember she had us memorize the Bible verse that says,

In my Father's house are many mansions:

if it were not so, I would have told you.

I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come again,

and receive you unto myself;

that where I am,

there ye may be  also.

                          John 14: 2-3 KJV

I love the imagery

of

Jesus

coming

to

take

us

 to

be

with

 him.

In His time...

May my Dad find

Peace.

Rest.

Joy.

in the

arms

of

our

Saviour.

homecoming, harvesting, and happily ever aftering

Dad is home now and was recovering as expected

until he took a fall this morning. 

Thank goodness my brother was there.
My big strong, independent dad is still
experiencing a great deal of pain. 
It is difficult to see him looking so weak and pale,
but the nurses asure us he is doing well. 
 Any prayers offered on his behalf are so appreciated.

My husband and I
attended
the wedding of
my best friend's
son
on
Friday
evening.

The church was extraordinarily beautiful.

The reception was held in a lovely New England Inn.

I had fun playing with pics of

the Bride and Groom...

My friend looked amazing in her

mother of the groom gown,

and her grandsons were adorable in their tuxedoes. :)

Each of the bridemaids chose their favorite style dress

 in cranberry (I think, or wine?)

The bride carried this bouquet.

This is one of the bridemaid's bouquets.

I loved the hypericum berries in the centerpieces.

And you dog lovers will love this...

Fun, huh?  I liked this idea.

All of this took place after I took my class on a field trip

to the apple orchard.

 
The weather was blissfully sunny and cool.
 

...a pretty full day,

don't

you

agree?

Apple Picking

On an absolutely beautiful day last week

my three daughters took my grandkids apple picking

at the orchard that's practically

 in our backyard! 

They LOVE apples!

The only disappointing thing about this afternoon outing

was that I wasn't able to join them!

But...they brought home a plethora of apples

that I'm anxious to bake into pies.

Mmmm...

that

incomparable

aroma...

There's NOTHING like a home baked pie made with

Gramma's recipe, sweetened to perfection, slightly cooled,

and served with a  colossal scoop of vanilla ice cream!

I'll post pics of beautiful pies this week-end (I hope!).

It's getting late and I will be getting up early (3:45) to go with my Dad to the hospital in the morning. 
He is scheduled for surgery to remove his bladder and hopefully eradicate any and all cancer in his body. 

I would appreciate your prayers for him.

And, please, 

pray for

 a cure

 for

cancer.

Labor Day Birthday Boy

LOOK WHO'S

D's birthday is actually September 3.  He's a Labor Day baby. 

His Mom invited a few people over for cake and ice cream on the 2nd. 

He'll have his BIG party when they move into their house. 

 The night before the party his Aunt and Uncle

(my oldest and her husband) moved back to town.

YIPPEE!

And I started school.

So, it's been a little hectic around here!

But it's all good things, so I keep counting my blessings!

This little boy just melts my heart.

He is such a BOY!

It's fascinating watching the way he plays with cars and trucks...

the way they vroom and crash!

One of his favorite things to do is go with Grampie

to see the cows at the farm next door.

The  Disney movie Cars is his favorite.

And he loves being outdoors.  He'll stand at the door and say "A walk?"  :)

He's adding new words to his vocabulary every day.

I love baby talk!

When I'm at the computer he'll motion for me to pick him up

saying "Monta Tuck, Monta Tuck"

 meaning 'I want to watch Monster Trucks on You Tube!'

And he loves the "Mo Mowa."

He once fell asleep in Grampie's arms on the rider!

He certainly isn't lacking a sense of humor!

But, gosh, I even think he's cute when he's crying real tears because his candy bar broke in half!  :(

Do you think this party boy is getting tired? 

Oh, yeah, but he rallied...

and after a good night's sleep was ready for round two on his real birthday!

What a trooper, huh?!  :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, sweet boy.

Mwuh. I Luh You...

all to pieces!

highs & lows & back to school

I have been teaching at Holden Christian Academy   for going on 16 years. It is a wonderful school with a family atmosphere where I have the pleasure of working with a fantastic group of people who love the Lord and make the hard work a joy. For the last few days I’ve been getting my room ready, but today was our first mandatory staff meeting. To start things off, the Principal, who happens to be one of my best friends in the world, (How many people can say that about their “boss?”) asked us to share one high and one low of the summer.

That was easy.

My Dad had a cystoscopy and a procedure called a “TURBT” to remove a tumor in his bladder at the very end of the school year in June. After the biopsy, the testing revealed that he had transitional cell carcinoma, that is, stage 2 grade 3 bladder cancer. You would never know to look at him that he is battling such a grave disease.
He looks like the picture of health. But looks can be deceiving. I have been accompanying him on his doctor visits as he seeks advice from the experts between St. Vincent’s in Worcester and Dana Farber in Boston to determine the best course of action for treating this type of cancer.

My Mom is fighting her own ongoing battle with Parkinson’s disease. {With Parkinson’s, the loss of dopamine production in the brain primarily causes tremor, slowness of movement, rigidity, and difficulty with balance and depression.} It is a cruel disease. She is so worried about my Dad and doesn’t know how she could manage without him. They’ve been married for 55 years!

I have been forced to come to grips with the fact that my parents will not always be right next door. It’s hard. I never want to be an orphan.  (I don’t care how old I am!) I just love my mom and dad so much. And my kids just love their grandparents… And my grandkids just love GG and Dad-Dad…

Nevertheless, God is good…All the time! He will give my M & D the strength to bear whatever comes their way and He will do the same for me and mine!

So…as I blink away the tears, you may be surprised (or not) to know that the highlight was actually starting this blog! It is satisfying and cathartic to put words on paper (even if it’s virtual paper!) and reflect on moments of life, big and small.

I know this post is rather long, but even with tears in my eyes it feels good to write these things down. Thanks, Sue (“Suuusan”) for giving us the opportunity to reflect (even if it was for only thirty seconds!)

To those who read, and listen, and comment…

It means so much.

Thanks, Teresa, for calling to say you were checking in! Your timing was perfect!
I’m hoping I’ll have enough time to post when I’m back to school and things are in full swing!

Until next time…

Blessings!