Welcome to Lori Anderson's Memories and
Thanks Blog Hop reveal!
Please visit Lori's blog post for the full list of participants. Thank you Lori for organizing
another wonderful blog hop!
There are so many people that have
touched my like over the years and I am thankful for each one of
them. When I saw Lori's sign up post for the blog hop, I immediately
knew about whom I would post, because I had been missing her so.
My mother-in-law, Marylou, loved
Christmas and the holidays are when I miss her the most. She was
such a joyful and giving person and made Christmas time so special.
Marylou was very creative, although some would say she was eccentric,
she found usefulness in most everything, especially in her Christmas
decorations. I was always fascinated by how creative she was and it
seemed like she could do anything she set her mind to. She played
the accordion and piano, sang in the church choir and played in the
bell choir, painted, made flower arrangements, sewed, wrote poetry
and was working on her memoirs before she passed away. I caught the
creative bug from Mary Lou and I fully believe that if she had not
been in my life, I would never had tried anything creative.
Marylou's health started to fail and
she was diagnosed with an enlarged heart and rheumatoid arthritis.
She had to have a pacemaker and a defibrillator implanted to keep her
her heart beating, but she kept her spirits high. Even when she lost
mobility in her hands and eventually had to rely on a wheel chair to
get around, she remained in good spirits. I think it was because
she had a strong faith and knew she had lived a good, full life.
In 2006, for Marylou's 73nd
birthday I wanted to make her a special necklace and asked my husband
to help pick out the beads. He chose a strand of beautiful Kyanite
beads and because her birthday is in February, we chose some lovely
Amethyst nuggets. From my personal stash I added Garnet chips,
silver spacers and amethyst colored crystals. Marylou loved the
necklace and the Kyanite beads complemented her beautiful blue eyes.
Marylou passed away in April, just a
few months after her birthday. My father-in-law wanted her to wear
the necklace for the viewing. After the viewing, my sister-in-law
brought the necklace to me and said that Marylou would want me to
have it back. I wear the necklace often and am grateful for the
memories it holds.
Over the years I have made other pieces
of jewelry with Marylou in mind. My father-in-law let me go through
her crafting supplies and I found wonderful treasures of buttons,
beads and pieces of broken jewelry that can be reused. Thank you,
Sweetie, for your inspiration and encouragement. You were and angel
on earth, as you are surely and angel in heaven.
