A Blanket of Memories

I had this idea. After allowing my son and best friend to go through and choose several of Daddy's ties, I still had a lot of beautiful ties. Mother had carefully choosen each and every one of them, except the Marine Corp ties that were gifts, and the older they got, the more expensive and works of art the ties became.

So out of no where, never having seen one, I thought, wouldn't it be a great idea to make a quilt out of Daddy's ties. But, where to begin. My friend, Lori was going to be visiting this summer and she had beginners knowledge of quilting and the necessary portable sewing machine. So I sent her some links of examples and asked her if she was game to give it a try. Sure, she said. She had no idea what she was setting herself up to do!

First we had to come up with a design. We laid out one starburst of ties and liked it. But, the quilt was going to be king-size so we decided on 4 starbursts of ties. I laid them out on my current bedspread and began to figure out exactly which ties and in what order. Daddy loved burgundy and Mother loved blue so I had a natural blend of color. Then I discovered that Daddy had quite a few Marine Corp ties, some burgundy, some navy so I decided to put a Marine Corp tie in each of the starbursts, all in the same position of the starburst, pointing to the windows. We would use circles of silk fabric in the middle of the starbursts, two of burgandy and two of navy to match the Marine Corp ties.

Next, I decided that each starburst should be framed in burgundy. Then, what to do with the tails of the ties we had used. A quarter starburst was made for each bottom corner of the bed.

I looked at several off-white fabrics for the backing but just couldn't decide. Finally I saw some navy checked material that looked like material you would make a man's sport shirt out of and matched with khaki, I had my backing.

Now mind you, with each design I created, Lori would roll her eyes, sigh a lot until she finally agreed to implement my suggestions. And work, my goodness, she spent dozens of hours in my basement making this happen. I did a lot of the basting and now I will do the actual quilting but thanks to her, I now have a gigantic piece of my parents' history to marvel out and sleep peacefully underneath.

Happy First Birthday Dylan!

A Special Lady

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who died Tuesday at the age of 88, was remembered today by her family and friends. I was touched by the obvious love, respect and adoration of her family but also deeply touched by the crowd of Special Olympians who gathered to celebrate and honor her life.

She will be remembered more for her role as the founder of Special Olympics than her luck of birth into the Kennedy family. She could have simply enjoyed a life of lazy luxury, but instead she saw a need and set about to do something about it.

I met Mrs. Shriver in 1960, when she visited the facility my mentally challenged brother was living in at the time. He was only 6 very young years old. I don't remember her car or her staff, though I assume she was well taken care of. I do remember her sitting my brother, known as Pistol as my Daddy knicknamed him, on her lap and making him feel very special.

Pistol is now 56 and I have lost count of his medals! He earns them with hard work and wears them proudly. He, like millions of others who are mentally challenged, can compete and excel in his physical abilities even while he struggles to function mentally. Thank you Mrs. Shriver for helping to make that possible.

Another reason I was deeply touched by today's service for Mrs. Shriver is that she leaves behind a husband with Alzheimer's, just as my Mother did. One wonders how much he understands but you saw glimpses of him knowing what was going on when he waved goodbye to the back of the hearse after the family placed the casket inside.

This is such a sweet picture of one of his grandchildren gently loving him.

And, here is a great-grandson, Colin, making his great-granddaddy, my Daddy, smile.

Children are God's gift to us, regardless of the challenges. Mrs. Shriver knew that.

P.S. Two days after I wrote this Pistol called to tell me he had won 4 more medals. This time in swimming! Yea Pistol!

Thank you Jesus!

While Dylan (almost 1 yr.) was peacefully taking his morning nap Sat. morning (his room is the window to the left of this last picture), a neighbor's tree fell on the house. It was infested with bees and was completely hollow. You can see from the second picture just how big the base of it is. We are thankful that the whole tree didn't fall. We are thankful that it didn't smash the corner of the house, thus killing Dylan. We are thankful that the neighbors have been very responsive. We are thankful that a tree guy came in the next day and cleaned it all up. We are so very, very thankful!!

Stop and smell the roses

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3a5vN4tUl4

Stop and smell the roses
Hey Mister
Where you going in such a hurry?
Don't you think it's time you realized
There's a whole lot more to life than work and worry
The sweetest things in life are free
And they're right before your eyes.

You got to Stop and Smell the Roses
You've got to count your many blessings everyday.
You're gonna find your way to heaven is a rough and rocky road
If you don't Stop and Smell the Roses along the way.

Did you ever take a walk through the forest
Stop and dream a while among the trees
Well you can look up through the leaves right straight to heaven.
You can almost hear the voice of God
In each and every breeze.

This is one of my all time favorite songs. I have been extremely busy lately with multiple projects and responsibilities. My head is spinning! As I was running out the door to yet another appointment, this beautiful yellow butterfly was flitting about my impatiens. I stopped to take a few pictures with my cell phone, knowing I would be a tad late for my appointment, but savoring the beauty, the moment, God's creative majesty.