I am late....

I am late, should not still be here in Plaquemine

on the day my oldest sister,  Mone is having an angiogram

and yet, she is in good hands as her two children and

some of the sisters are already there.

Wanted to take just a small minute

to ask for prayers for her as the cardiologist is

sure there is some blockages around that heart of hers.

Our Mone has been through so much,

breast cancer times two,

two ariticial knees that got infected and caused

her to be hospitalized for 6 months after

removing the knee hardware and being replaced

after the infection was cleared.

She has had two rounds of chemotherapy and almost

bled out after the last angiogram she had.

I know she must be afraid but you won't ever here

her complain. Just not that type.

She can drive you crazy but you won't hear her complain.

Last night it was C's idea for us sisters to all say the rosary

on our "Mommy rosary" at the same time for our Mone.

If you have a minute today, say a few prayers for her.

We are not ready to loose another of our troops so soon

after loosing the Mommy.

Thanks in advance!

 Mone and her grandbaby, Lillian when she was born

 C, Mommy, Mone and Hugh at Mommy's Manor Xmas party

 The mother daughter tea this year with her Minta and Lillian

 Mone back in the day.... many moons ago

 a sister picture during her last chemotherapy treatments

 Mone last month for my birthday

Oh our Mone, such a beauty, one photo my Daddy took

Quilts filled with love.

My sister, C, she is known as a wonderful businesswoman.

One of the very few women who is President of a company.

She has self-taught herself the business and without a college

degree, landed herself a President job.

What people may not know about her is that in her leisure time,

which is far and few between,

she crochets beautiful quilts for those she loves.

My Godmother, Our Aunt Nan TATA

tried to teach all us nieces how to crochet, she was an expert.

The only one who really paid attention, who

mastered my Nannie's talent was sister C.

If you ever have the privilege of seeing my sister relaxing

you can bet it will be with crochet needle in her hand.

If you own a quilt handmade by C, you are blessed, you 

are loved. Such is the case with My BB.

C is his own Nannie and on his second Christmas she

crocheted this most beautiful quilt. 

I can't tell the hours BB  played on this quilt,

having his little farm animals and pretending it was the farm.

It was picked up for many years and when Bean came along,

I took it back out and placed it on her bed at Mumsie's house.

One day I watched as she too took all her little figures and

pretended like her daddy, that this farm was lived in.

Made my heart happy, had to share that with sister C.

Since this time, she has made many a quilts.

She has made them for her own children, for our great nieces

and nephews.

She made a beautiful yellow one for our Mommy and

it makes us all happy to know that where our Mommy's

body resides, in the cemetery once again with our Daddy,

it is this very quilt that she is wrapped in.

 As special as that one was,

 none has been more special than the one she has

made in the last year. 

This one had many smiles and tears poured upon it.

The quilt that she worked on as we cared for 

our dying mother, the quilt she was working on many days

that we spoke and texted.

The recipient of this special quilt was her own soon to be,

daughter in law, Amanda.

There is no gift given on that day that could

be more filled with love, an acceptance that Amanda is no

longer just her son's girlfriend but her own daughter now.

I was privileged to be standing by her baby boy, Arthur

who is marrying this beautiful girl.

I watched him as he saw her unwrap this beautiful blanket.

No one smiled bigger, no one clapped louder than him.

It  was evident how much he loves his Mommy,

how proud he is of her talent,

how special he knows this quilt is to his wife, his marriage.

If you are privileged to have a beautiful quilt handcrafted

by my sis, you are special, you are loved,

just as sister C is special and loved.

A PARTY TO SPEAK OF

 This little boy is soon to be a married man.

Married to the woman we have all grown to love, 

Amanda. Two good families coming together to be one.

 The shower was so beautiful!

When she made that Kaylee her Maid Of Honor,

(the two of them below)

She knew what she was doing as Kaylee dotes on the bride,

and pulls out the best parties.

I only hope when it is her turn to walk down the aisle as

a bride, that her maid of honor, her wedding party does

for her all she has done for the brides she has stood by.

She is an awesome host, the best host!

 There is so much in my head that I want to say,

so much jumbled up here, full of emotion which makes it

hard to write a blog that is orderly and says just what I want.

My sister C, she raised two boys.

Arthur, her oldest was not the easiest because

of his wonderfully unique personality, he could

not have been given a better Mommy.

She went with his strides of this child and molded

him into the best man, who is one of the most

caring of all our offsprings. Amanda is a lucky lady.

A hard worker, who at his age, has began his own company

and it is thriving.

Everything he touches is turned to gold.

As I watched him yesterday, having come to the shower later in

the day, it is still that little boy in his smile.

I am brought back to the memory a few years ago when

our Arthur was in a motor cross biking accident and

ruptured his spleen.

That morning, when C called to say he was at 

Lady of the Sea ICU I freaked.

There was a hurricane in the gulf and all I could think of

was that if this spleen continued to bleed, he could

die. I knew he needed a pediatric specialist as 

LOS as great as they are, could not  handle

the problem he was having if things went poorly.

I went to the hospital and shared my fears with

Arthurs parents and the ICU nurse who agreed that

he should be transferred. Later that day he was 

transferred to Children's Hospital and thankfully he 

did fine with his healing. Mommy and I, the Saturday

drove to New Orleans to see my sweet nephew and

all he wanted was his hair washed as it was still full

of mud I lovingly got all those things I needed to wash his

hair in his bed as he was on complete bed rest.

As I placed my hands in that head filled with thick 

beautiful hair, I remember getting choked up,

thanking the Big Man for the opportunity to be

his aunt for a longer time. If you ask Arthur about

that time, he may tell you the best part of it was

when his Aunt Lil washed his hair. 

A special moment we shared that still lives in both

our hearts.

Or course there are many memories of this little

boy that lives inside of me:

 "Aunt Lil, I want some Juiey"

It's what I was awakened to many nights that he slept at

my house. Having two children who almost always slept through

the night, this little boy did not.

I knew when he was coming sleep I wasn't gunna sleep much.

He needed his "juicy" many times during every night.

It didn't take me long to realize I needed to put a cup of juice

on my bedside to make it easier to sleep with this child.

He also taught me the difference between chocolate chips and

a poo poo diaper.

One day while giving him chocolate cookies I kept having to

wash his hands because they seemed to have melted chips

each time I checked on him.

After a while I realized he was putting his hand in his

diaper that was full of poop....

It is one of my favorite stories to tell about him 

and he loves it too.

He and his little brother, who is now taller than him

have grown up to be the best of friends.

It makes me happy to see the two of them together,

and their girls, Amanda and Kaylee, thankfully are very 

close as these boys will continue their lives together.

My sister C, I know when she sees her two boys together,

she must swell with pride, she and TEd have raised two

fine young men. I am so proud to be their Aunt Lil.

Just a small tad of all going through my head this morning,

I know I did the party and the people I speak of here,

not enough justice but I think I at least have shown the special

man our Arthur has become and just how much he is loved

by many but most especially by his Mommy.

funnies this morning

 The older I get, we get, the less funny these are.

No, but really, these are FUNNY!

Lindsey gave them to me a few months ago and

right away could relate.

Enjoy your Friday!

SPEAK TO ME...

SPEAK TO ME, DEAR TRUNK...

It called my name, all afternoon, as I viewed the antiques available

at the show, I kept going back to it.

The price tag on the last day of the show was marked down

from 125 to 75 dollars.

The owner could tell I wanted it so she shares that

she really does not want to drag it back with her so

if I wanted it it was mine for 60 dollars, no tax.

Still I walked away.

 Right before the show closed, the owners hubby was filling

it with things he was packing and I had to have it.

Sixty dollars cash and I took this beauty home.

As I told the vendor, this piece of treasure will not only

be in my home but it will live there, it will be loved, it 

will be treasured, it will be used.

You see, when I opened the top of the trunk, saw the beautiful

vintage pattern of the paper, saw the sticker of the animals that had been

placed on the top, I knew that some little child had loved

this trunk, I envision her to have been a girl.

 The iron work above is so darn beautiful all I did was oil it up

as I did for the whole outside of the trunk.

The inside I only covered with two thick coats of Modge Podge

to stop it from tearing as it is pretty dry and flaky in there.

I didn't want to change not one little thing of this once

loved trunk.

Now, what I would do, if this beautiful thing could talk to me.

Who were you, little child, who put the sticker on this

beautiful vintage paper? What was this used for,

did it travel on waterways as a suitcase to a child,

or was it merely a toy box back in its day?

I want to know and yet I know that the only story

it will tell me is the ones made up in my mind, my heart.

Soon it will house toys for our very own sweet little girl,

Bean as she too seems to have a liking to the trunk,

especially the sticker on the inside.

Speak to me.....

I wish you could,

SPEAK TO ME
addendum:
This very morning, as I found myself just finishing this post,
did i also find myself in one of those
coincidental events.
My friend Jane who owns a local antique store 
called me to come and look at an old suitcase she 
was shopping around for me.
The suitcase would not do but my eyes scan the place
and by her desk I eye a trunk very similar to mines.
The shock when I opened it to find the same, and I mean same,
inside paper of vintage blue papers and a sticker on
the top, not animals as mine is but of a young boy,
the trim around the sticker is the same as the one
that lives at my home.
When things like this happen, I am just a tad bit
excited!

 These last two pictures are the one I found today.
How i wish I had space for this!