Bridal Shower...

The weekend got off to a rough start with my sister's daughters coming in from out of state to try to deal with her personal effects to clean out her home. Her husband is having an understandably difficult time, and going through my sister's things was difficult for everyone. My remaining two sisters and I did what we could to help, but there were a lot of tears amidst moments of happy memories and laughter. 

Our nieces went back home yesterday, and will return in a couple months to put together an estate sale, but many boxes went for donation, and some items of sentimental value were given to family members. 

Before the ladies left yesterday, I was able to meet up with them for a light lunch. Hugs were exchanged, and then we parted ways. My eldest niece was driving six hours to get home, while the other was heading to the airport to fly home. I got in my trusty Explorer and drove an hour north to the wedding shower for my great-nephew, Ethan's fiancee's wedding shower. I knew my two remaining sisters would both be there, so we were looking forward to celebrating for a couple hours.

The bride is in white, and she's surrounded by her sister, who is the Maid of Honor (in pink), her two other bridesmaids, and her daughter.

My niece (her future mother-in-law) threw a wonderful party. She's a great party planner, and there was tasty food, and a few fun quiz games to play for prizes. 

When the bride-to-be opened the gift from Handsome and me, she looked at me and smiled. She told me more than once that she loved her new brooch, and would absolutely wear it for their ceremony. I am delighted that she is happy with what I created for their wedding.

Before we all parted ways, I made sure there were photos taken of me with my two sisters, Di and Jan. We did the best we could to help our nieces over the weekend, then attend this celebration, but I know all three of us were tired by the end of yesterday. 

Jan will be working today and tomorrow; Di will spend a little time with her son's family before leaving to drive six hours north to go home. She lives near my eldest niece, so she has nearly the identical drive. I'm going to get some things done with Handsome today, but I'll be able to rest a bit, too. This weekend was a good time to spend with family, but under the circumstances, it was exhausting, so we'll recuperate as we're able. 

We all miss the sister who wasn't there, and it will always be this way for us. We were four and now we're three, but Lyn will always be in our hearts, and we'll do our best for her daughters, grandchildren, and husband.

Stemmed...

 

Sometimes life - or end of life - gets in the way of less important things. I managed to get the stem attached to my Autumn Strawberry, but that's about all I accomplished in the studio. I regret that I didn't get daylight photographs taken, so I'll do that this morning and then I can get this listed in my Etsy shop.

 

My sister's funeral is tomorrow. My two remaining sisters - Di and Jan - will be here today so we can put together photo boards for the visitation. There was also a request from Lyn's daughters that the aunties make our family recipe for hot cocoa mix to serve along with coffee and water. Di is making some lovely hibiscus-flavored water, as well as another that I've managed to forget. Lemons and something else, I think. So, after we've completed the photo boards, we'll move downstairs to the kitchen and mix up a big batch of hot cocoa mix.

One of my ex-brothers-in-law (there are, unfortunately, more than a couple among my siblings) works in graphic and digital design. He agreed to remove and replace a background from an image of Lyn that the girls wanted enlarged. After we arranged that and got the revised image, I ordered a 16" x 20" print to be made to place next to her urn in the church. I'm going to pick it up later today, after Di and Jan drive back to town to be with our nieces.

It's likely to be a busy and emotional few days. Prayers would be appreciated as we formally say goodbye - for now - to my sister. Thanks so much.

Welcome, December.

 

Thank You From The Bottom Of My Heart...

With deep gratitude for your many kind comments, I'm still working on projects that I'll be able to share in the coming days. Right now, our family is taking care of each other. 

I deeply appreciate that you're also taking care of me through all your beautiful messages. I promise to reply to each one soon. While we'll mourn her passing, each day gets a little easier for us, because we know she's no longer suffering.

My Sister, Lyn...

 

This is one of my favorite photographs of me with my sisters. In this one, we're top to bottom, oldest to youngest. Through all the years, we've taken many pictures like this.

 

This was all of us (left to right = oldest to youngest) at Dad's Celebration of Life in August, 2020. My sister, Lyn was leaning on my brother as she stood between us. She was already frail from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. There is no cure.
 

 

 

Here are the Four Sisters again at Lyn's Birthday party July 2023. She could barely make it from their vehicle to the house, so she sat here until it was time to leave.

 

Saturday, I got a call that she was back in the hospital in the intensive care unit since Friday. She now has end stage COPD. Her daughters are here from Minnesota and Colorado, our 86 year old mum, Di, Jan and I are all here and we've been to the hospital to be with her. Our youngest brother came home from vacation in Georgia yesterday to see her, and I assume our other brother will be here soon, too. This weekend has not been good.

She's improved enough so that she can probably leave the ICU in the next day or so to go home. She's scheduled to again meet with a transplant team on November 21st to assess whether or not she's a candidate for a lung transplant. She is 5'6" tall and currently weighs 98 pounds. (That's not good.) Her husband is hopeful that they'll approve her for a new lung and that she'll be fine. Lyn has said she'll see what the team says and go from there.

Sunday brought Handsome's last concert of the season with the Fond du Lac Symphonic Band. It was held in St. Paul's Cathedral in Fond du Lac. It was a wonderful and moving concert, at one point moving me to tears. Why does that always happen when I've left all my hankies at home? It's been an emotional weekend, and the music released all that I'd repressed. It was all I could do not to weep out loud. I was sitting next to Mum and she whispered, "Are you alright?" I could only nod. I was finally able to pull myself together before the piece was finished, and maintained my composure the rest of the afternoon. Between the venue and the music, I'm surprised there was a dry eye in the place. 

I'm going to town again today to spend time with Diana and Mum. I'm not sure about going back to the hospital right now. Lyn spends most of her time sedated, so acknowledging visitors takes a lot out of her. I'll get updates from her daughters about if and when she's going to go home, and will see her in the next day or so.

 

If you have a prayer or kind thought that you might spare, I'd sure appreciate if you could lift it for my sister. We're praying for her to be comfortable and pain-free, as she's neither right now. I'm going to grab my travel Yeti, fill it with coffee and go meet up with Di soon. Thanks for listening.

Family...

L-r: Me, Niece #2, Nephew #4, my youngest sister, Jan Missing from photo: Niece #1

My sister, Lyn, was discharged from the hospital yesterday. Her husband took her home, and her two daughters were going home, too. Jan and I had planned to be in Milwaukee for brunch at the restaurant where my nephew is a chef, so I let the girls know we'd be there if they could join us. They said they didn't think the timing would work.

We were walking from our car to the restaurant when our nieces pulled into the lot to surprise us. Although our eldest niece, Jen couldn't stay - she had a 6 hour drive home to her kids - she did visit for a bit before leaving. Her sister, AJ joined us for brunch and we caught this group photo before we had to shuttle her to the airport to fly home. She'd planned to take an Uber, but these two aunties wouldn't let her do that. We were her Uber instead!

Nephew was responsible for creating some of the items on the menu, and I was most happy that one of his dishes was the one I'd ordered. It was a delicious dish featuring mushrooms with a cream sauce over toast, topped with a perfectly cooked egg, pickled onion and micro greens.

Our visit is just what our nieces needed after the week they've had, worried sick about their mom, and we had the added bonus of seeing our guy, too. Of course the visit was too short, but we were grateful for the time we had.

Sister isn't out of the woods yet. She has a lot of therapy to do, and without violating her privacy further, we're still very much concerned for her long-term prognosis. We'll continue our prayers, and support her as we're able.

Both nieces texted me later to let me know when they were each safely home, and I'm sure they were glad to sleep in their own beds. Today begins a new week with new challenges and tasks. I'm looking forward to meeting mine head-on. Tag will be here tomorrow with "all the news that's fit to print". I'll see you again on Wednesday.

 

Distracted...

Heart Applique Quilt - Web image

 

I've been trying to keep my mind busy with some sorting and cleaning, but my head is in another place. The sister closest in age to me (all my siblings are younger than me) has been very ill for a while. Five days ago, she was taken to the hospital in grave distress and was subsequently flown to a Milwaukee hospital for urgent care. She has spent that time in ICU until today, when she is scheduled to be moved to an inpatient room.

 

She had surgery during that time, too, and my nieces have been keeping our family informed with updates as they're available. Visitation is limited to two at a time, so our mother, brothers and sisters have stayed away in favor of her daughters who both came from out-of-state to be with her. 

 

We're not sure what the future holds for her. Her condition has been a roller coaster this past year, and she's very frail. We're all praying that she'll come through all of this, and in the meantime, my mind is barely able to focus on any tasks. I move from room to room, waiting for more reports.

 

I'm going to try to accomplish something positive today. I'll keep praying and trust in His will for my sister. Aside from being here if my nieces need me, it's all I can do.