12 weeks

*sigh*

How could 12 weeks have gone by? Just like that.

I hate that a new season has begun without my mother here to enjoy it. She loved the start of a new season…it didn’t matter which one it was, she loved them all for their unique beauty. She enjoyed spending time decorating her home and garden to reflect each one.

Mother Nature.
That’s what we called her.

My daughter Jacqueline (9) and I have been seeing rainbows everywhere since about a week after she passed. And butterflies…all over our backyard, much more than in the past.
We like to think it’s her.

My daughters are planning on attending a childrens bereavement camp on October 13, sponsored by Hospice. They have a lot of fun activites planned, lunch and snacks, support circles and a celebration of life memorial service at the end. My husband & I have also been seeing a grief counsler at Hospice and it’s been very helpful. We were going every week in the beginning but now it’s every 2 weeks or sometimes a little longer. We also signed up for a 6 week (once a week) support group for those who have experienced the recent death of a loved one. Hospice has been really good to us, even though my mother was not a resident there. All these things are free of charge, which I think is such a great service. We decided to make a donation but have been thinking about sponsoring a stone in their “Garden of Angels” instead.

*sigh*

United Nations

Still more pictures from our trip back home to NYC last week. Although the main reason was so we could have a memorial service for my mother, we got a lot of sight seeing in for Shawna & Jacqueline.

Me and the girls outside the United Nations:

The Security Council:

The Economic & Social Council:

A beautiful mosaic in one of the halls that reads “Treat others how you wish to be treated”.

The both really enjoyed the tour. We had a great tour guide from South Arfica named Tumi. My daughters both had a lot of questions for her and walked through the whole tour with a notebook so they could take notes. Jacqueline decided (on her own) to do a report on the United Nations. She gathered some printed material while there and asked me to to make copies of these pictures to include in her report. She took a folder from our cabinet of office supplies and cut the UN emblem from our gift bag and pasted it on the front of her folder. She worked on it at the airport and on the plane and is very excited to show me the finished product which she wants me to share here on this blog.

Do you know what plant this is?

Does anybody out there know the name of this plant? When my mother passed away (so sad to type that-it’s 11 weeks today) I inherited all her plants. I have a black thumb (unlike her who was nicknamed Mother Nature) but I’m determined to not kill any of them (there’s about 15 different ones). This one just bloomed and I’d love to know what it is so I can take care of it better.

Pictures from Times Square

Here’s more photos from our recent trip to NYC. These were taken during a night out in Times Square. I couldn’t leave NYC without sharing one of my favorite night time spots with my daughters.

We parked our car in lower Manhattan because one of the things Jacqueline wanted to do while in NYC was hail a taxi. She had been practicing for weeks and was anxious to finally get to do it. I snapped the picture a second to soon because right after this she stuck out her arm and a taxi stopped within 2 seconds. LOL

After walking around a bit, we stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe for some dessert.

My Baby-Wearing Baby

Photo taken: 9/2007

My daughter Jacqueline told me, “I don’t like to use strollers because I want my baby to feel me”