A Gift of Memory and Love

Yesterday I got a very special gift in the mail. I had gotten one of those yellow slips in the postbox on Friday that said there was a package waiting to be picked up at the post office. My sister is here visiting for a few days and when we went downtown yesterday we stopped at the post office and I ran in to pick up the package. When I got back in the car with the package I said to her..." You will never guess who this is from." and she said "From Jan?"I was surprised that she knew. She said that she had received one too.When I opened the package I discovered this beautiful collage wall hanging that Jan had made.
Now, I don't usually get special, unexpected gifts in the mail and never have I received anything so meaningful and done with so much love. Jan is our talented and creative friend that writes the ~LITTLE PINK HOUSES~ blog and participates in a once a month vintage store in Walnut Creek, CA. She and I have become friends. We use to live in the same town when we were growing up and she found me when she was reading a post I wrote about Pleasant Hill, Ca. and a housing tract called Gregory Gardens. We started emailing and the rest is history.
When Mom died in July, Jan was so comforting. She offered to help us with anything we needed to do and she sent emails to be sure that Sis and I were OK. It was the kind of support that was needed..., someone letting you know that she was there if needed but not being obtrusive or making things more complicated. She was wonderful and on top of all the care and concern, she has also given us one thing more. A gift of memory. A gift of friendship and a tribute to Mom.This is one of the most beautiful gift I have every received because each part has such meaning for my sister and I.

The sheet music; Songs My Mother Taught Me by Anton Dvorak brings back memories of Mom sitting at the piano playing all the music of our childhood, teaching us to sing with her. The blue fabric (her favorite color) and lace decorations, the jewelry flowers, the birds and buttons all in threes; for Mom, Sis and I..., and under the last small piece of fabric trimmed with lace, on top of a line of music with words "Seldom from her eye..." is a transparent dove like bird, a faint ghost of an image...., Our Mom? I like to think so. Still near us. Keeping an eye on us and telling us that she is in a wonderful place and that she is happy.

She stands, in the photo, on top of the old water tank house over looking the Ranch in the Napa Valley. She is smiling, happy and filled with possibilities. Were we the lucky ones, her daughters, and..., we are the lucky ones to have a friend who would bother to share her talents and make us such a beautiful gift. Thank you Jan. We are so touched. This is a very special gift that you have given us. It means more that we can say.This song was done Andante con moto(andante con moto means moderately slow, walking, with motion.) which is how our mother lived her life; slowly, always walking in a good direction and always moving forward.
Thank you, thank you, thank you Jan. This is more than a gift. It's a treasure that we will cherish forever.

Short Trip Filled with Good Things

This was a nice trip down to the Bay Area. The weather was beautiful and I got to see Mom again. She is doing much better. I think that her trip to the hospital made such a bad impression on her that she has willed herself to feel better. She is on oxygen all the time now. You can see the huge canister next to the bookcase. She calls it the "atom bomb" and doesn't like it in her room. What a funny lady she can be. She has filled her room with many of her belongings from the house. Each time she goes over with someone she brings back more things. The CNA's joke with her that they are going to have to add on an "addition" to her room, soon, so she will have more space to put her things. Mom says if she can't be at home then this is how she makes it feel like "home". They are the nicest folks and take such good care of Mom. They don't seems to mind all the things that she has accumulated. They are so understanding. It makes such a difference to Mom.
A dove is sitting on two eggs on the front porch of the rest home. This bird chose a hanging basket and there she sits (left bottom photo) looking at me and hoping I don't get any closer. I saw Mom everyday and that dove was always there. Mom can see this nest from her window and she is hoping that she will see the babies when they are born.
It was a busy weekend. Saturday we went to our favorite "once a month" store, Room With A Past, on 3rd. St. in Walnut Creek and on Sunday we drove to Berkeley, to an Art Festival at the Live Oak Recreation Center. Lots of beautiful handmade things: Wonderful jewelry, hand crafted one of a kind items that were very beautiful and expensive. The weather was really warm, for Berkeley, and the venue was a lovely park in a residental area at the north end of Shattuck Ave. We had a nice time .

Asilomar; a beautiful place to be.

"Asilomar with her many trees,
Her silvery water,
her ocean breeze.
Her sand dunes white
arise with grace:
Oh! Nature lovers,
it's a wonderful place." ~e. briar, m. weber & a. eatwell~ 1935~

...and it was. My sister and I drove from Lafayette, on Sunday, down hiway 101 to Monterey and into Pacific Grove. The Asilomar Conference Center is a refuge nestled in the dunes and forested shoreline of the Monterey Peninsula. It is a wild preserve founded by a group of women that were determined to build a community that would support education and improve the lives of woman in the early part of the century. They helped create a retreat for the YWCA that would be available to anyone who wished to gain knowledge and learn new things to improve their lives. Julia Morgan was the architect for the buildings. The buildings are of the Arts and Crafts style and only local wood and stone was used. More recently apartment style rooms were added with all the modern emenities. There is a spirit and a feeling of pilgrimage when you arrive here. There is a feeling of refuge that quiets the business of life and gives you permission to slow down.

The view through the doors of Merrill Hall at dusk.


This was a trip that almost didn't happen. Mom went into the hospital on Friday morning and we had decided not to go. I arrived two days early thinking that we would just cancel the trip and I would spend the week at my sisters. Mom, although having trouble breathing, told us we should go and the doctor said that he was sure she would be returning to her care home in a day or two. He told us that she would be all right and that we should attend the workshop because it was only 2 hours away and Mom would probably be in the hospital until the day before we would get home. On Sunday we decided to go.

I got home yesterday afternoon to my little house on the hill. The Prospector, Maggie, Carl (aka,the pupster) and Annibel were all here to greet me. It is so good to be home. The goats were a bit distant, but that's to be expected. Brownie kind of ignored me but Bart told me he was glad I was back. I will be going back down to see Mom in a week or so unless there's an emergency, then sooner.

Tomorrow I will tell you about the Art and Soul Workshop, our teacher Nina Bagley, how much fun we had and how Mom is doing.

MY MOTHER'S HOUSE