Good Bye Joe

Today I said tearful good-bye to Joe. I laid my hand on his beautiful oak casket, leaving him with my hand print, and my heart print.

Joe, and his lovely wife Lillia, were my Godparents. They were my mom and dad's best friends for over 50 years. They have been a huge part of my history, and I have so many fond memories. Besides my own family, they and their children are the only ones I can think of who I have known from the very beginning of my life. Growing up, we lived close enough together to see them all the time. Neither my parents or Joe and Lillia moved from those houses, so they remained close in proximity and close friends over the years.

As you can see from this photo, Joe was a firefighter. Actually a Fire Chief at the end of his career. My dad was the photographer of this portrait (I think back in the 60s). Joe didn't really change much from this picture. His hair turned gray (but he always had quite a head of thick, wavy hair, even at the end) and he acquired a few more wrinkles laugh lines, but he stayed just as handsome as he was back then.

I spent time remininscing with Joe and Lillia's children last night at the visitation, and it really brought home that this is an end of something that was always a constant in my life. Things certainly changed when Lillia passed a few years ago, but now with Joe gone.... well......

Joe lived a good, long life (82 years).

Godspeed, Joe. I'll miss you.

(P.S. Say hi to Lillia)

Blech

I had really hoped to update my blog by now, cuz there's so much to catch up on! However, I've been in bed since Thursday night. I've progressed to the couch, at least for now, but don't know how long I'll last here.

Stay tuned...I'll post soon about the extremely fun and special time had by my family last weekend.

This is not junk mail!

This came in the mail on Saturday....

Kaitlyn's best ever HS report card.

She has worked very hard!

All As !!!

WTG KAITLYN!

Update:
Jake's Progress Report showed up on Monday. He is sad that he got his first "B" of his elementary school career. 89%....oh, sooo close. Jake has had All As every progress report and report card so far. He's in 5th grade now. He's going to work hard to turn that B into an A! WTG Jacob!

Little treat for me, Great Etsy seller!

Last week I ordered a little sheepy something for myself from an Etsy seller. I don't remember how I came to be on her Etsy page. She may have had an ad on Ravelry, or was mentioned or recommended somehow. Anyway, this seller sure pays attention to detail, making every customer feel special, even for a small purchase like this. Go check out MissPurl's Etsy shop. Go on. I'll wait.

Today this came in the mail. Look how cute this little box is:

As I untied the bow and opened the box, I realized the box was handmade.

Inside was my little sheepy, snuggly wrapped in lavendar tissue paper, sealed with a sticker:


And here's my little sheepy cell phone charm. I'm not sure that's where she'll end up living, cuz I don't trust myself not to break her (glass). I may end up making her into a special stitch marker, or add her to a bracelet. Not sure yet. But how nice that the cord was pink to match my phone, huh?