She Is Gone

I came across this poem reprinted in The Grieving Garden by S Redfern and S Gilbert. The poem was written  by David Harkins. I took the liberty to insert Laura's name.

Monica L Jones lost her daughter, Bronwyn at the age of 9. Monica was one of the many contributors to the book. At the time of writing, it was 28 years ago that Bronwyn died.

Monica states "...with time one can remember one's child with calmness and gratitude." She included the poem because it expresses her feelings. I am posting it because it spoke to my heart.


LAURA IS GONE


You can shed tears that Laura is gone
Or you can smile because she lived


You can close your eyes and pray that Laura
will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left


Your heart can be empty because you can’t see Laura
Or you can be full of the love that you shared


You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday


You can remember Laura and only that she is gone
Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on


You can cry and close your mind,
Be empty and turn your back


Or you can do what Laura would want:
Smile, open your eyes, love and go on.


--David Harkins, 1981

At Palisades (a musical tribute to Palisades Amusement Park)

I remember when I came to meet Fred's family (I was probably 19) he took me to PP.  I can visualize some of the pictures that we took there. He showed me a really fun day. I still have the panda bear bank that came from there. It sits in the corner of my bedroom.

Jackson update

Jackson is looking a bit tired here

but his parents say he is doing really well. He pulled

through his surgery like a trooper.

Glad to hear it, Jack.  We love you!

Louie

Louie was feeling sorry for Jackson, so he volunteered to wear Jack's lampshade for a while.  Jackson is still feeling some pain, but he is eating and barking. 

All good signs.

Thank you St. Francis for watching over him.

Eeyore Quilt

Pillow Sham (front)

Pillow Sham (back)

Quilt (front)

Quilt (top back view)

Quilt (bottom back view)

 This quilt is for my great niece, who is four.

  The theme is Eeyore. I used Laura's PJ pant

for the cutouts on the back and connected

all the Eeyores together with a stitch in soft
mint green that resembles a kite string with bows
on it. I found the black stars in Laura's craft box;

I embroidered hearts on them and
added the messages.

  The fabric on the front is shades of pink and purple

with adorable, colorful wooden buttons.

The pattern is "Impatience" by Sharon Sebrow.

Quilt--Western Theme

 This is my 6th project--a quilt for my

great nephew for Christmas 2010.

It is a cowboy theme.
The quilt turned out much larger than I planned

 (it is my largest piece so far).

I started with a pattern but soon discarded

it and worked my own design.

I used the “pillowcase style” to pull it together.

Denise (Cozy Quilt Shoppe) showed me how
to tie a quilt so I tied this one
 instead of stitching in the ditch.

The pockets (my favorite part of the quilt) are from
Laura’s jeans and the kerchief I found in her clothes bin.

I love how it turned out. It is a large and warm quilt.  

I hope my nephew gets a lot of comfort from it

 (as soon as his mother is tired of cuddling with it).

 

Reverse side

Flying Geese Pattern

I learned a lot making the tote. 

I took two classes to complete the finished

product for my friend in time for Christmas.

It has pockets inside and a removable bottom piece

for easy washing.

Table Runner

This is my second quilting project.
I used a lot of purple in this piece because

Pat and Laura’s favorite color is purple.

This is the first piece that I incorporated

fabric from Laura’s clothing.
The black lace is from a shirt she
wore with her red mini skirt and knee-high boots.

I took the lace from the neckline and sleeves.
She was about 17-19 years old.

Table Runner--wine motif

I made this table runner for a dining room table. 

The blue area was taken from Laura’s waitress shirt that she wore when she worked at Toast.

I also embroidered Laura’s dates and
“In Memory of Laura” on the front sides
(the inscription is very subtle—black on black).

I used a 9 square patch to make the blocks.
It is my 5th piece.

Reverse side of runner

January 1st--fun in the snow

Mom went to the mall with my sister and uncle. I stayed here with Aunt Claudia and we played in the snow. My mom says Aunt Claudia has to give up her "girl card" because she hates shopping. That is fine with me because I hate shopping too!



We got really cold after playing in the snow for two hours.  I wore a pair of Aunt Laura's socks on my hands to keep them warm but after a while our hands were freezing.There was no way Aunt Claudia was getting me in the house though; I was playing King of the Hill. We forgot to take pictures of our snow seal we made and all the large, heavy snowballs. We just kept rolling them along and the more we rolled the larger they grew. Eventually I gave in when Aunt Claudia offered me hot chocolate and by that time I was ready to call it a day.

Peace & Blessing to all of us in 2011

January 1--a brand new year, this milestone which has its aura of sadness because we are entering another year without our daughter, Laura. 

I will try to focus on my hopes:

• I hope this new year will be a time of peace and contentment for us. 
• I pray this will be the year that our son finds a doctor who can really help him.
• I hope to improve my physical and spiritual self.
• I pray my pup's health improves and she can stay with us longer. (Laura, I really don't want to send her your way yet.)
• I pray that my family and friends' lives are blessed with good health and lots of love and laughter.
• I pray that the twins enter this world uneventfully. I can't wait to meet them.
• I hope we can always hear in our hearts Laura's voice reminding us to praise life and embrace it fully.  

Happy New Year!