My how he has grown, how he has changed...

(the Whole Plaisance gang 5 years ago)

My niece, Rebecca, half of the parental duo of

Hugh, Lucy, Owen and Ellen,

is, about right now, landing in Paris.

It was her 40th bday on the 28th as well as her

(as cute now as he was then, back in the day)

 (One of our trips to a plantation home he spoke of yesterday)

 ( a fun night at the Hornets game with two of my favs.)

 Hubby, my BFOB's, birthday and their anniversary all

in one week. A few months ago BFOB asked her what she

wants for her birthday and she jokingly said, 

"Oh, a trip to Paris would be nice."

He surprised her with a week trip to that very place.

Finding a safe, loving place for their four children was 

her biggest worry of leaving them behind.

I have Hugh, the oldest, until Saturday and then

will have Owen the third in the group from Saturday to Tuesday

when I bring him  home to reunite withtheir family.

This blog, is of course, about that Hughbee boy!

He is now 15, 15!!!! for a child who came into the world

3 months early weighing just under two pounds, he 

has come a long, long way. When I say a long way,

he is 6 foot two inches tall! I definitely look up to him 

these days as does most in our family.

So many wonderful things to say about this child.

First, how many 15 year olds, not only loves coming 

to spend time with his auntie lil, but is excited about it.

He and I,  when he was 5 began summer sleep overs with me

and except for I think two summers, we have carried it out.

On our way home, we reminisce of all the summer vacations we

shared, he remembers all the little stories,

the one when he was 7 and we buried a dead cat we found.

As we were leaving the burial site he turns to me as I 

am leaving and says with so much emotion,

"Aunt lil! WE have to pray!"

He remembers all the trips he and I made to tour 

old plantation homes as that is the thing we always enjoyed doing.

He remembers the Myrtle's trip where he lost his 20 dollar bill

and the only way I could calm him down about it was

by making up a ghost story about why the 20 dollar

bill was lost, because the ghost children had taken it from

his pocket. He was so sure this was true that he said,

"Yes, Aunt Lil, that's what happened, I remember feeling a

cold breeze across my feet when we were in the gift shop"

Geezer, I love this child!

Now he is a teenager, a wonderful, lovable, teenager.

Who is easy to please, who compliments over and over the

fricasse' I cooked for him because it's what he wanted.

I forgot how enjoyable being praised for a meal is.

We sat on the sofa, near each other, each with an ipad, playing 

words with friends. He is one of a different character.

He speaks of his younger siblings out of pride.

I share with him about his brother Owen's text to me

to let me know that he likes "Steak and broccoli"

We both laugh at this and he adds a few more antics 

about his little brother. I am so, so blessed that at my age,

I have all these great nieces and nephews who not only will

stay with me, but look forward to the visits.

Our family, our extended family, we are all so very lucky

to have the type of love that binds us together no matter how big 

we get. He is a miracle of a child, he is going places,

and I am thrilled that in his life, when he looks back on his

 childhood, there will be plenty memories and stories of the summers

with his Auntie Lil.

(My Hughbee, so grown up)

A promise I made...

While myself and the siblings were caring for Mommy,

there were many things that we each talked to her about.

One of my things were if she had any regrets.

She had none except for one, the habit that humans have

of always saying, "lets get together"

"This summer, lets plan to do something together"

She spoke of how too often we say these things

and really mean it but it never happens.

Mommy spoke of how, living at the manor, she

has had so many people visit and loving her.

She spoke of how so many of the elderly are alone

at the Manor without family or visitors.

She always considered herself so lucky as she always

had so many visitors.

I promised her that from then on, I would not just say I

would visit with people. When friends asked me to visit,

or offered me a place to sleep, I was going to do it.

I had already spent times sleeping and visiting with

Bestie, Laurie and the bestie babies, visited with her Mommy

and her in laws who I had not seen since high school.

On Sunday I made my way down the bayou.

My first visit was to my dear old Mrs. Gus who my kids

grew up calling MaMa goose. She had cooked lunch

for my dear godson, Ricky who was down on leave from 

the Navy. There I visited with dear old friends,

Sue and Foe, Connie and TEdi and all their children.

I then made my way to my friends, Stacy and Thomas,

her dear parents and her sister, Liz who is also a wonderful friend

of mines all visited. Camille and Greg and most of their family

as well as Cam's dad, Mr. Norman was my stopping point 

for supper, what a wonderful visit.

That night I spent quality time with my sweet Abby,

Thomas and Stacy's little daughter. As we colored that evening,

we spoke of many things. We spoke of her hair cut on Tuesday

and her donation of her beautiful hair to Locks of Love.

She was amazed of my story that when I was a child I had

cancer and was teased because I was bald, how if 

children such as her had donated their hair back then,

maybe I would have not been teased.

She was amazed by this story. I love this child.

I slept in their guest bedroom which is now officially called

the Auntie Lil room.... lol

I have never slept that good in years.

I almost missed bringing Abby to school, not waking until 7:15!

The best nights sleep I have had in years.

The next morning, a quick visit with bestie, Lauren and the babies.

Visited with the Manor in Thib. all my elderly friends, some of them

the same ones Mommy spoke of that never have visitors.

I know I can not ever not visit that place, the place that

my Mommy called home, the people who became family to me.

I ended my day with a visit with the Albert's.

Faith and Maggie, Sara and Mal and little cousins.

Faith thought of me when having to clean out the home of 

their grandfather, so many treasures given to me,

so many hugs and kisses from lucky, lucky little girls.

A wonderful few days but it's not over, it is my new mission,

my promise to the Mommy, not to just speak of visiting 

those I love but to really do it.

Thanks, Mommy for the gift of remembering those I love

and to actually spend time with them.

glass knobs

Yesterday Katie, the neighbor, and I headed to Denham Springs

to look for hidden treasures.

As we walked through the buildings of history,

Katie picks up a glass knob speaking of looking for

one with the wall plate to use as a hook in her home.

As she holds one of these beauties in her hand,

a memory of the past comes flooding back.

I am a child, in my childhood home, where all of our

solid wooden doors were opened with precious knob like this.

I look into the knob and there another world exists.

In my large, vivid imagination, there is another family,

another world on the other side of the knob.

When I look into the glass, my mind sees what the 

family is up to. I share with Katie that this was so much

a part of my past, that I sometimes would even dream of the 

lives happening on the other side of our glass knobs.

One day in particular I view a reception hall,

It looks similar to the place our small town gathered

in for weddings and church functions,

our very own LaSaLette Center, the very same place

we had our Mommy's life celebration at after her funeral.

On this day as a little girl, there is a wedding reception

and as I stared into the doorknob, a little boy from

the other family walks up to my knob, he can see me, I think.

In my imagination or my dream, he puts his own eye to the

glass  knob, he seems to be living the same type of fantasy as I,

watching the family in the glass knobs in his world.

Even though you practice...

When working in the school system, we 

practiced for this, practiced for the possibility

of tornado's, fires, lock downs.

Sometimes the children don't take it seriously,

even I, as an adult, hoped that the practices were always

for nothing. I never took them for granted.

Neither did the other adults in school.

We understood that the practices were necessary

as we had other people's children's lives in our hands.

Yet even with all that practice,

you just cannot ever be prepared for the type of

storm that blew threw the little town of Oklahoma.

Even with the technology of this day,

this school, these people only had 8 minutes to get 

to safety. Eight minutes.

The catastrophe happens, many  adults and

children are missing and where do you want to take them?

The nearest hospital, of course.

Except the hospital is also flattened.

The stories are tragic, some are miraculous.

I have all types of emotions as this unfolds.

We call these type of storms

"Acts of God" 

I can't fathom that. Maybe Mother nature,

but not our God would cause such tragedy to the 

innocent of the world, our children.

It is times like these that I have to remember my belief

that I call the  "helicopter view".

I have spoken of it before and it is sometimes the only

thought that helps me to grasp the magnitude of this.

We cannot see the full picture of the world,

we can't see the wetland erosion but if you get in 

a helicopter it is obvious to you that the lands are eroding.

God has the "helicopter view" on the world.

He has to know that this event will cause another event

to be obvious to someone. I, though, am human.

Even I, with the faith I have, feel angry this morning that

so many have to suffer.

There may be a reason yet this morning,

I see none.
This morning, it's the first morning I am glad my
Mommy's in heaven, there are lots of little ones
entering the gates of Heaven, I know they need lots
of Mommee's to greet so many children.

the mind is a funny thing, as is the heart.

Yesterday, after a most perfect day playing with this cutie,

I head to some lost time at Wally World.

On the way home I note an old trailer in the distance.

Then the mind, it takes over.

I acknowledge that the trailer is similar to the

trailer HOBL and I bought and lived in when we

were first married. I loved that trailer, loved it!

This one is disheveled, but the end of one side was once

a window of walls much like the one we had.

I am brought back to a different time.

A time when although my dad had recently died,

I was in love and marrying my high school sweetheart.

It was not known yet that he had a drug problem so

we were just happy. Happy that we were about to commit

"for better or worse"

"till death do us part"

We were happy that we were able to purchase not only

a piece of property but a beautiful new home.

I loved that home, I know I said it already...

It was not long after Baby boy was born and Juan took

our first home from us. We moved into a small home that 

we renovated down Melo's lane, sold the trailer and

the land. In the new home, it is there, that HOBL decided

he needed drug rehab. and some really bad memories 

are in the memories of that second home.

Back to the first, I begin to get "melancholy"

about the first home. We were not perfect, we had lots

of arguments but it also holds some of our best memories.

I had never lived in such a beautiful space. 

We worked hard while living there, fought some

and loved even harder. I wish for just a short time

to go back to that time.

The times when we found out we were going to be parents.

The times that we both worked nights, I would drive to 

Golden Meadow to pick him up at work and we would

spend most of the day in bed, sleeping, talking, and.....

you got it.

ahhhhh funny what time does to old memories,

dulls the bad ones, and highlights all the good ones.

It is those wonderful, good memories that will get you

through some of the roughest times of your life.

Going back to the place I once called HOME

The pups needed yearly vet checks, 

I needed a new hairdo and highlights.

I made sure to leave a gap of free time there.

I felt the need to go back to a place I once

felt at home.

I visited Thibodaux Elementary School.

It was good medicine!

So many of my dear friends were there and there

were many hugs and "I miss you"

Of course, it reminded me of a better time in my life,

when things were stable, my pain was controllable

and My Mommy was still with us.

I know now I need to visit often, even possibly spend

time volunteering there as it was evident that I 

need to give back to kids in some way, in more ways

than just teaching religion and doing testimony speeches

to others. I want to go there and play, I want to go 

there to visit with old friend, but most of all, I want to go there

to spend time with the children.

I can't mention names and I can't really show pictures of 

the children here but so many still remembered me,

"Nurse Lilly! Nurse Lilly!"

"Are you coming back as our school nurse?"

Many hugs, getting hugs from these children fills 

a place in my heart with so many happy moments.

I leave after two hours and visiting with as many of the

old staff as I could.

The best compliment came from my former principle/boss.

She hugged me with all four feet of her and

expressed just how much I am missed.

She explained how it was not just my nursing skills 

but it was for my happy, bubbly personality, my singing,

my love for the children that is so missed.

I thought it would be hard for me to go there,

it was not. It made me happy, made my day.

Kd and the Bean on a road trip!

In the last year, having lived here in Plaquemine,

I have never gone more than two or three days without 

seeing our Bean.

Today, she and her Mommy and her Mawmaw and Poppy

are leaving for a road trip to Atlanta.

I do believe I will be just a tad bit lost until seeing

her again on Monday.

Yesterday I picked her up at school and we went

to Chucky Cheese to have some fun before she leaves.

Gypsy and Kelmiester met us there.

If the way she acted there is any indication of how much

she will love Disney, it will be a fantastic trip!

So, you may be wondering, what is the road trip about?

Kd is an LPN as I am.

A few years ago she began a computer generated

LPN to RN program and is now on the last leg of 

the journey. This week she is on her last leg of 

this journey. She has worked so hard, passed all

her tests and now only has her clinical portion left.

She does her "mock" weekend, or practice weekend this week

and in June, her very last clinical testing.

Then only boards to pass and she will be a full fledged RN.

She has worked so hard on all of this all with 

work and being the most awesome Mommy to our Bean.

Good luck, Kd!

By the time we go to Grand Isle, hopefully it will all be done!

Love you big,

miss Bean already!

its the simple things that matter

is a rarity that I can get my babies together 

now that they are grown and yet

there is nothing that makes me happier.

I tease my neighbor, when she comes over to visit,

that if I want to see them I have to cook.

Of course, that is not true.

Yesterday, BB shows up to cut my grass as his

daddy is in Alaska.

Gypsy baby and kelmiester show up to hang for

a few hours before GB is due in Baton Rouge for 

a job interview. I am cooked GB and Kemiester's request,

chicken fricasse'.

I also bake two different types of cookies.

When the late afternoon comes, Kd and Bean,

Baby boy, gypsy baby and Kelmiester are all here,

all together. It is so obvious now that the babies are grown

just how different those two are.

It is also very evident that they are bonded for life,

as siblings. I think of my own relationships with my

own sisters and brother and I am so very thankful that

I gave them each other, it may be the best thing I 

ever gave them. They are different, can irritate each other

and still, they know that when the "going gets rough"

they have each other. 

We watch Bean dance and sing, we watch as her

daddy plays with her and her Mommy has her recite things

for us. The obvious is that she is growing up so fast.

Not many of her baby traits are left, but she always, always

has us laughing. From the way she sings and smiles,

to the way she rolls her eyes, she is fantastic and funny.

Baby boy has to go home to bed as he leaves this morning

for work, gypsy baby and kelmiester, stay sleep.

We work on  a puzzle together and it is when I realize

it is the simple things that matter. There is no amount 

of money that can give me what these children can.

They are absolutely, without a doubt the best things

I have ever, ever done in my life. I also know this.

That no matter where my life takes me, where I find myself

in the years to come, those children will be by my side,

forever my babies, forever in my heart.

Two new little girls to add to great nieces!

My brother, Peter and my sis in law, Cheryl

are proud grandparents again, this time,

TWIN GIRLS!

Aleena and Mike Steele, along with their son,

Jackson welcomed the two new babies on 

Wednesday May 8th.

They live so far away in Maine,

and yet, thanks to the new age technology,

we are able to get pictures of them and oh my,

are they some cute!

Jackson is two, born on our Beans birthday, March 13th.

His mommy says he loves his baby sisters and 

took on the "big brother" role right away.

 Emma Catherine entered our world on 

May 8th at 10:41am weighing 6#7oz.

 ...and just a minute later, 10:42

Claire Elizabeth, weighing 6#5oz.

I have to give Kuddos to Aleena who, when finding out

she was pregnant with twins, began taking care of herself

assuring that all those complications that can happen with multiple

births, would not happen to her precious baby girls.

She has done so well and here they are, ready to 

bless the Steele family with many happy memories.

Our family keeps growing and growing

and I hope it continues to do so.

Congrats Aleena, Mike and Jackson

what lucky girls they will be to be born in 

a family full of so much love and happiness.

For every soul

who has ever 

dried another's tears,

gave encouraging words,

took the risk to speak truth,

gave without asking in return,

cheered at another's success,

embraced with an overflowing heart,

belly laughed in tandem,

patiently assisted in learning,

pardoned with compassion,

fed another's body, mind and spirit,

provided shelter and safety,

released another to grow

in the direction

of their dreams...

those souls are the

nurturers...

the

mothers 

of 

the

world.

Thank you.

Bless you.

...and then there is Mothers Day...

I realize its just another day on the calendar.

I realize that it should not be one that is harder than

any others and yet, it is.

It is our first Mothers Day without her.

Last night, as we spent time together, the sisters and I

and went through her jewelry, distributing out to 

everyone, assuring that each one of the grandchildren would

get something to remind them of her,

an heirloom to remember her by.

I thought it would be hard, it was not.

It was easier for us to be together than it has been

to be apart from them. As we shared memories, spoke of

the last few months, we made those promises that I guess

many do after loosing a parent,

"lets not loose what we have built in the last few months 

taking care of Mommy" 

"lets promise at least once a month to get together"

As I drive home, that part is the hard part, leaving them,

realizing that the family glue is gone and although

we all mean what we say on this day, we also

are afraid, afraid that we will go on with our lives,

and we will never be as close as we are now, 

as we were when taking care of  our dear Mommy.

Then there is tomorrow, each of us with plans

on spending the day with our own families,

realizing that for the first Mothers Day in our lives,

we do not have our dear Mom. The feeling of

orphan comes to mind, which seems so silly as I am

almost 50. Buy you see, no matter how old you are,

when you are with your Mommy, with your older siblings,

you are still in many ways, Just the "baby of the family"

and I liked that position. I like that even though

I am grown with grown children of my own, when I am 

with them I am still just their baby sister. 

Part of that is gone, again Mommy was the glue.

Tomorrow I plan on spending the day with BB and Kd,

Bean and Kd's gracious family who has not only invited but

insisted I spend the day with them. 

On Monday gypsy baby and kelmiester along with bb and his

little family will gather for our own Mothers day celebration

I will cook gypsy baby's favorite food and we will 

spend the evening together.

In some ways, tomorrow I feel like I would want to just

stay home, not in sadness, not in loneliness but just 

to reflect and take time for myself to come to grips with

my loss. I won't do this, I will spend the day with the

guilbeau/Cresionne' family because that is what will make

my children happy.

Life goes on, I know this loss is and will continue to get better,

the first of each holiday without her will be the hardest.

My prayer is that I and my sisters work hard on 

continuing what my mother managed to do in the 

last few months of her life, get us together,

bond us in ways we had not bonded in for years.

Happy Mothers Day!

If you no longer have your mom, I feel your pain,

if you are fortunate to still have your mom,

hug her, tell her what she means to you, give

her an extra kiss from me,

the "baby of the family"

who is almost 50 but feeling like an orphan.

one of those days...

Today will be one of those days, just like Sunday will be.

It will be one of those days that the realization of loosing 

my Mommy comes full force.

I know I have to move on, I know I cannot spend the rest 

of my life "feeling sorry for myself"

I am not that kind. I am not a martyr, I am a hopeless optimistic.

Even knowing all of this, even feeling better as the days

pass before me about the loss, I will continue to have

those milestones that the great loss of my Mommy is first in my mind and heart.

Someone told me after two weeks of the loss,

that I can't continue to go around moping.

I knew this was true but I also felt sad.

I thought, if I died, would my children and those that

love me be "well" after two weeks?

I would hope that the loss of me would linger past two weeks.

Putting all this aside, today will be a hard one but also

a beautiful one as my siblings and I will meet in Thibodaux

to go through Mom's jewelry and write thank you cards.

We had to put it off for a few weeks because of vacations

some of us had planned and I know, although we are so 

excited to all be together again for the first time

since Mommy left us, we also know this is and end

to another chapter, something we have to do to move on.

Sunday is also Mothers Day, a day in our family growing up

that never got ignored. My Daddy always bought

Mommy a gift until the kids were old enough to buy it

for him. He never used that saying some husbands do,

"You not my Mother"

He, instead, always honored her as the Mother of his children,

a thank you for all she did for us, for his children.

Yep, my dad was no romantic and if you only knew him  in 

his older sicker years, you would never believe he did this 

but he did. Just like each morning when he served her 

coffee in bed.

I wish I could just sleep the day away.

Gypsy baby is working and I know Kd and BB

will be spending the day with their own little family.

We will gather here on Monday for gypsy and kelmiester's

favorite meal, chicken fricassee' (stew to most of you)

we will play games or make a puzzle or play a game

but regardless, I am hoping for an evening with all my babies.

Sunday, wish I could just take it off the calendar.

Wow, long winded this morning,

Needing extra strength, extra pain management,

needing my sisters today.

Forgive me if I ran on and on today, but 

I gain comfort when I put it down and share it with others.

If you are blessed with a mother, give her extra hugs

this Mothers day. Don't just give her a gift, rather

write her a love letter, enclose all that is good in her,

all that makes her special to you, the appreciation for all

she does for you. Do not take her for granted, not Sunday not any day.

I can attest that there is no Mother out there that would 

rather a love note than a gift.

FATHER TO DAUGHTER

I have blogged a few times of my dear friend, Patricia and

her sweet girls. I don't think I have ever spoke of her husband, the

girls daddy, Blair. From the first time I met him I knew he was not

your average husband/daddy.

It takes a special man to love his daughters the way he does and

not care what others think.

Growing up, although I knew my daddy loved me, I sometimes

longed to hear the words of what he thought of me,

often wondered how he felt to have 5 daughters.

Then I married HOBL and wished often that he was the 

kind of man who could share his feelings with his kids.

He loved them, that was obvious, but  always shy to speak to them 

about that. I have told many men be the kind of father that buys

your daughter a gift from you. They don't even know what a gift given

and picked out by your daddy, given to his precious daughter does for

her self esteem, spend time with your little girl, just the two of you,

I am so proud when I see and hear Baby Boy plan an outing with 

just he and Bean.

BAck to Blair, he is that kind of daddy, never afraid to show 

his love for his girls and his wife.

So when I saw on Instagram that not only had he went and

shopped for his oldest daughter, bought her things she will need to

start high school, but he also enclosed this beautiful letter.

YOUR HIGH SCHOOL JOURNEY ELISE

THIBODAUX HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 2016.

YOUR JOURNEY HAS BEGUN, AND WHAT A JOURNEY 

IT WILL BE. WHAT WILL YOU LEARN, AND WHAT WILL YOU SEE?

YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO LEARN, HOW TO THINK,

HOW TO TRY. YOU WILL FEEL EXCITED AND EXHAUSTED,

SMART AND SILLY. YOU WILL BE IMMEASURABLE

LOVED, YET SOMETIMES FEEL ALONE, THOUGH YOU

WILL NEVER BE ALONE. YOU WILL SEE

YOURSELF DIFFERENTLY, YOU WILL BE YOURSELF,

AND YOU WILL SEE OTHERS NOT FOR WHO THEY ARE,

BUT FOR WHO THEY WANT TO BECOME.

WHO THEY ARE, AND WHO YOU ARE WILL COME LATER.

RECORD YOUR THOUGHTS SO ONE DAY YOU CAN REVISIT

THOSE FEELINGS, AND RELIVE THOSE MOMENTS.

EVEN THE SAD ONES YOU WILL HAVE.

THEY WILL ADD WEIGHT AND COMFORT TO 

THE FOND ONES.

THIS WILL BE THE TIME YOU ARE PUSHED TO EXCEL,

AND YOU SHOULD BE.

THE MORE YOU ARE PUSHED BY OTHERS, THE HARDER

YOU WILL PUSH YOURSELF, AND THE GREATER

YOU PUSH BACK AGAINST BOTH, THE

STRONGER YOUR FOUNDATION WILL BE, AND 

THE FURTHER YOU WILL LAUNCH YOURSELF INTO

A LIMITLESS FUTURE.

LIKE BAND CAMP AND OTHER THINGS YOU HAVE DONE.

IT WILL BE HARDER THAN IT HAS TO BE, BUT IT

WILL BE WORTH MORE BECAUSE OF IT.

TAKE EVERY DAY LIKE YOU WERE GIVEN EXTRA GIFTS

TO SHARE, BLESSED IN DIFFERENT WAYS.

ALL THAT WE ASK, AND WHAT WE EXPECT IS THAT YOU

TAKE GOD'S BLESSINGS AND USE THEM TO LOVE

THE LIFE HE HAS GIVEN YOU TO THE FULLEST 

AND HELP THOSE WHO CANNOT HELP THEMSELVES.

LOVE, DADDY

I always knew Blair was an exceptional father,

this in only one more way he proves it.

I cried when I read this. How many girls would love to have words

of advice from their daddy?

If you are a father, do this, write a journal on how much your little girl 

means to her, on her birthday, but a gift yourself to give to your

princess. Write her love notes, often.

Yesterday, BB kept Bean from school, they spent the day

together on the boat and the song,

"AND SHE THINKS WE JUST FISHING"

came to mind when enjoying the pictures.

There will be many days as little girls grow up that

they will make mistakes, they will be sassy and scream

for their independence. You daddy's will worry and loose nights 

of sleep as she gets older, it is why it is so important to share

the feelings you have for her now and as she grows.

Thanks to the whole Degruise family for allowing me

to share their most intimate moment with others.

Daddy's love your daughters.

Found and going home...

I cannot stop watching or reading about the three missing girls

who were found yesterday.

When I hear of missing persons these days I always think

they are dead. Then you hear of these types of stories and

it gives you hope for all those others who are missing.

AMANDA BERRY

GEORGINA DEJESUS

MICHELLE KNIGHT

and there is that 6 year old, the daughter of Amanda Berry.

Ten years missing, ten years!

I think, 10 years and every day I am sure they tried to find

a way out as yesterday has been reported.

I would have thought after ten years they would have 

been brainwashed but if you hear the 911 call,

you will hear in Amanda's voice she wanted out.

this morning I am full of thoughts of all that

has happened in their families while they were gone.

the roller coaster they are on, being happy they are

finally free only to find out people you love are now dead,

children in your life, grown up now.

It is a miracle, a big old miracle because they are alive but

also full of sadness as they cannot gain the 10 years back.

YOu know there was abuse, you know there was sexual 

abuse, you know the 6 year old Amanda calls her daughter

is also the daughter of one of these men.

Today, they are happy as they find out all that has gone

on in their name and I am sure they are also sad,

sad for the things that were taken away from them 

in the last 10 years. Amanda Berry is very outspoken

and all over the news today but little of the two

other women. Having trouble wrapping my thoughts

around such a terrible crime, find even myself going

from happiness one minute to sadness, anger is mixed

in there. Today I will pray the rosary, something I am trying

to do every day since my dear Mommy died, today

I will dedicate the rosary and my walk to all involved

in this case. I ask you to also spend a little time

praying for them all.

Mother/Daughter tea 2013

The pictures will tell the whole story of the wonderful day

we had on Sunday, celebrating the annual

Mother/daughter coffee-tea.

My mommy was one of the first members, having

been one to begin the womens' group called

Ladies of LaSaLette.

The weather was beautiful the company even more so.

The dedication given by Ms. Sybil was touching and brought

tears to many eyes. Ms. T-Lyoy, was a few months younger than 

my mom. Although we all said this is a day for celebration,

happiness, gratitude for the love of mothers and daughters,

Mommy's bestie, below, had trouble keeping her tears

from flowing, trouble speaking to any of us without crying.

She and my Mommy have been friend since the early days

of their elementary years just like I and my besties are.

She is the last one still alive from all her best friends and

that in itself has to be enough to draw the emotions this sweet

lady shared on this day.

Mommy would have been so, so proud. Each year she bragged

in her way, that she had the most gathers when it came to mothers 

and daughters, this year, we beat every year before.

I do not remember the full count but I know it was over 30.

Towards the end of the party, Ms. Sybil comes out

with an angel food cake topped with whip cream and strawberries.

Just the sight of the cake made us who knew my Mommy want

to cry. Ms. Sybil goes on to explain a small part of 

the kind of woman my Mommy was. Any time there

was any type of luncheon or church gathering my Mommy 

made this cake. Not because it was easy, not because it was

delicious. Her reasoning was because one of her friends,

Mr. Mac Rome was a diabetic and could not have most of

the desserts so she always made sure he would have something

to end his meal with.

She was that kind of woman, could be sarcastic a tad bossy

but always, always helpful and thinking of others.

Enjoy the pictures and see the love that surrounded

the 2013 mother/daughter tea.

Ms. Sybil and Mommy's bestie, Ms. T-Lyoy

Elizabeth and Alyssa, great cousins

Ellen and Dominique, my sweet godchild.

Kd, Bean and Cathy

My gypsy baby

my girls

abigail and Lillian

Emily and Abigail

abigail, bean, lillian and ellen

dear lucy

my tedi and her favorite nannie

i love this child with my whole heart!

ms. barbara, elizabeth and celeste

tiffy and tedi

kelmiester and her mommy, norma

sis in law, cheryl, em and abigail

my date, bestie baby-Lindsey, how i love this girl!

another of my godchildren and her baby girl

my bean and her "muzie"

kd and her mommy

bean loves her 'coosins"

rebecca and her baby girl, ellen

kelmiester and gypsy baby, love the relationship they are building.

veronica and two of her three girls,
I don't know how, in all my pictures, i have none of Tie,
but she was there.

if you add Mommy's picture, 4generations here. Sister Simone
and her baby, minta, holding her baby, Lillian

cousins more like sisters, so silly together

bean, her first modeling debut, only two and
she loved the stage!

and here, our Mommy's body rests, back with my daddy,
but this is just a holding cell for her body, she is
on a bigger and better journey.