…or thinking of Arizona?
Happy Birthday, Mom!
Archives for posts with tag: mom
I read a blog by a local shop owner and this week has been terrible for her and her family and friends. One of her friends young children was swimming at a party last Saturday and drowned. This, of course makes me unbearably sad. How does this still happen to so many in backyard pools? At parties? So many question with one reality for that family. So sad.
Because of the story above I think of my dear childhood friend, Rhonda. Rhonda's family and my family spent summer's and holidays together for the first 5 years of my life, more for my brothers and parents. While my family was intact we had camping trips, New Years bashes, and trips to their beach house. I know both of my parents tried to keep in touch after the divorce but as friendships sometimes do they somehow faded out of our lives. There were still Christmas cards and then an invitation to Rhonda's big sister's wedding.
It was wonderful and weird to see my old friends. We used to sing and dance and be so silly together. Singing Michael Jackson into cassette recorders and getting our faces painted and having the best time at the Puyallup Fair even if it was raining and we were slogging around, comes to mind!
I think I was 18 at the wedding. Rhonda had a new baby boy in her arms and a boyfriend that looked eerily familiar to me (he looked like the boy my mom was desperately trying to keep me away from in high school. I felt sort of a kinship with her that we both had gravitated to this type of boy.)
Sadly, two years later I got a phone call from my mom and I had already had a bad dream about it. Rhonda and two friends had gone rafting, they didn't take life jackets, Rhonda and her new boyfriend were missing.
They had a service for her a few months later. It took that long to find her. They only knew it was her because of her tattoos. I looked at her little boys face as we left the church and I'm embarrassed to admit my audible gasp I gave. What a gorgeous boy who looked just like his mommy.
That was thirteen years ago, this summer. I still long to go back to her parents house at the beach, I think they still live there. After Rhonda's accident I know they thought of selling because the view looked out to where their young daughter passed.
I think of Rhonda mostly as a child now who, from what I heard, tried to see a lot and do a lot while she was here. I think of Rhonda and I feel so fortunate because tomorrow, as they say, is not promised. So I think of her when I'm running fast, when I see tattoos, as I have the privilege to watch my son grow and so much more. She sneaks in a lot so I thought I'd share about her today.
Please wear life jackets, and/or have a life guard. Please please please.
today i decided i'm stopping food blogging. i'll still rave if i make something fantastic but as of now i think the learning i wanted to achieve from jotting down my own daily diet has come to an end. it's been a good run and i've been able to see patterns and i hope that it's been helpful to others too.
i love food, i love raw food and i love restaurants and decadent dining experiences. i love to make food now, which is huge and of course i still love to have food made for me, especially by my talented family. examples here: http://bread-and-honey.blogspot.com/.
i'm all about being vegan, eating loads of fruits and vegetables and the wonderful world of green everything! my plan is to continue eating high raw and cooked vegan meals. limiting sugar, beans and grains. i've learned about my cravings, i've learned what i need to fuel my body for runs and strength building. and for me it's a combo of cooked and raw food.
after growing up with endless amounts of cheese, bread, meat, butter, cookies, pasta, ice cream, canned vegetables and canned fruit (sorry mom, it's true! we just all know better now.)… and then being a junk food vegetarian, raw food has put nutrition and health in beautiful focus.
i'm still reading and studying books and blogs, all i can get my hands on. i'm addicted to goneraw and i just love people like david wolfe, juliano, and elaina love.
next here on vox will be musings on my life, hopeful, honest, heartfelt and all that sap i love, save for a few delicious rants and feet-stomping-soapboxing that i'm also keen on.
thanks lovelies!
xoxo
ami
Which one of your ancestors would you most like to talk to?
Submitted by Kathy.
well, after spending a wee bit of time at my grandma amelia's last night, (the first time in my entire life without her there) i 'd cherish the opportunity to ask her about her treasures. her gloves, her wedding dress, the napkin from her wedding which gently wrapped three small memories from that day. i'd ask her about the peculiar box i found in the basement that has the oddest visual etchings i've ever seen. the loads of skeleton keys, the furniture, the glasses, everything has a story. so if i could be selfish and have a day with her to myself we'd go through her stuff and i'd learn so much, i'm sure.
yesterday was my grandpa golden's funeral. my grandpa had a stroke and passed away as my grandma watched. after 62 1/2 years of marriage she said she watched the sparkle leave his eyes. his soul left this earth quickly and quietly as he sat in his favorite chair a week ago today. towards the end of the service while the priest was speaking i looked up to see my grandma embracing her husband's casket with her hands, with her head, with her heart. she was the only one standing. slowly she was joined by some of her 12 remaining children. it was so beautiful and so sad. we walked into the reception and she looked me straight in my eyes and said quietly, "i'm just going to miss him so much, i'm going to miss him so much." i hugged her tight and my mom came up and grandma said, "i wanted to hug him one more time."
my grandma golden's sister, my great aunt mary is 96 1/2, in a wheelchair, with a breathing tube, and she shakes while she talks. when i was growing up when you asked aunt mary how she was doing she'd always reply, "whoever i can and the good ones twice." Ha! who can get away with saying that? and she always has made everyone feel so beautiful and heard. she'd hold my cheeks in her soft old lady hands and she'd say, "you're so beautiful. you're so gorgeous." with such conviction that you'd be forced to believe it was true. what a gift she is. she looked around the reception yesterday and repeated, "you're all so vibrant, you're all so young." i squeezed her tight and told her she was beautiful when i first saw her at the church and i hope she believed me, i was hoping she heard me.
it was a tough day. i'm still reeling from it all. my grandfather was laid to rest at the same cemetery as my grandma amelia was back at the end of september. if you had told me i'd be back there so soon i'd have answered a defiant, no way. but there i was in the same black velvet coat, black boots, and tears forced to say goodbye by death.
What are some things that are worth (and not worth) spending money on?
Submitted by pinejar.
i love good food. good travel. nice clothes. a home. a car. and a little extra for some peace of mind. that come what may we can still eat, be dressed and have a home.
but what happens to all this stuff we buy and generally spend money on? andy and i have been discussing this because we want to get rid of some, or maybe a lot, of our stuff. what kind of impact do the things we buy truly have on our environment, our economy, or world? as i pack bags full of stuff i've spent money on i envision their new lives. perhaps on a goodwill shelf and then brought home to someone else's world. who knows? i just know i can't care, cause it's just stuff.
don't get me wrong, i'm holding on to my mom's ring and charm bracelet and a bracelet that my brother and sister-in-law bought for me in Mexico after they lived there for awhile, came home, and got married (but that's another story.) i'm being selective about the sentimental stuff. the necklace i wore in high school with a tiny rainbow assortment of beads and a bell on the end. and the necklace lydia made for me all purple with a silver angel charm. that one hung in my zoomie car for a long time.
so the stuff worth spending money on are things to do with health like good food and how about massages too: traveling to see this world and the beautiful people we love on it: oh, i do love clothes and a bargain, and now they need to be eco-friendly to boot! a home to live in of course, again hopefully earth-friendly. a car is nice to get our booties from place to place (and eventually i hope to have a "green" automobile). hopefully to eat good food and see great people instead of buying "stuff". and yes a little extra for some peace of mind, some wiggle room, for a rainy day, for someone else's rainy day and so on. i like money, i like having money. i like sharing money and experiences and life. may we all have the money we need to buy the stuff we need. and may we be self aware and true to ourselves through our purchases.
Heartshapedsky 