September 20, 1931 to November 13, 2012

 

I don't think it matters if you know the end is coming, or even if the end is necessary and releases suffering - I think it's still the hardest thing in life.

And it doesn't hurt any less if you know it's coming. 

I thought it would.

I was wrong.

Dad with two of his granddaughters from Maryland

Dad with my brother and my oldest niece

Dad, my brother and my brothers youngest daughter

Dad with mom shortly after their move to the Veterans Home in King, WI

Dad with all three of his lovely Maryland granddaughters

Dad with my two middle daughters

Dad with 3 of my girls

 

Dad and me

 

Always smiling when I was with him

 

He loved cribbage. This is one of our last games together



The last picture of the two of us.

He is trying to make me have some of his coffee smoothie.

The rings on my middle finger are his and moms wedding rings.

His is so big I have to wear hers in front of it.  It is even too big for my thumb.

The last time he was alert, he grabbed my hand and asked if I was wearing his ring.

He went peacefully, with me, my daughter Becky and my mom there with him.

Rest well dad, you earned it all.



"November always seemed to me, the Norway of the year" ``Emily Dickinson

November has been a bit November-ish if you know what I mean.

Today it felt like ...

All the leaves are brown....

and the sky is gray...



There is a special subtle beauty in November, once the

lovely flashiness of September and October color is over and

the world becomes a symphony of neutrals.

outdoor projects started

and put on hold as life invariably gets in the way

There is always something that needs doing and it isn't always what a person

thought they were going to do, is it?

heavy clouds



Since I took this picture, this old house has been demolished.

sad, really isn't it?

 

whenever I see a house in this sort of abandoned state I want more than

anything to go inside and see what it looks like in there

There was an abandoned house kitty corner across the road from my grandparents farm

when I was small.  I remember going inside with my twin aunts.  How cool were they to

let a 10 or so year old tag along?  I remember there were still old

dishes in the kitchen, not in usable condition, but still they were sitting

there, on the table and the counter top.  There was a very old faded

print on the wall above the table too.  Or am I imagining that I remember that?

We didn't touch anything, or rescue any of the dishes or the picture. 

We just quietly went back to grandmas. 

MIA with Miss V and the big guy

The Minneapolis Institute of Art

JoY!!!

So classic

Even broken these are lovely

Daddy and V enjoying art together

does it get any better than this?

 



The modern area



 So much FUN!

 

like being in a cartoon!

and then there was the actual size of this piece! 

It was amazing, it looked awesome both close up and from the other side of the room

These last three pictures say it all

 



Miss V's first encounter with an original by her favorite artist

 



I so understand how she feels