The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of travel. It involved a trip to see our new granddaughter and then on to San Diego to say our final goodbye to my amazing mom. I couldn't help but keep thinking about the saying, "the circle of life" as I went from seeing the new life of this sweet baby girl to spending time with my family as we celebrated the life of such a special woman.
We left Cashiers with great excitement to go meet our new granddaughter. . She was one month old and we fell in love with her the minute we saw her. Bob and I both wept as we held her in our arms for that first time. It was so overwhelming to see our "baby" Mary, holding her baby! She is of course beautiful and so sweet. She mainly liked to eat and sleep but I loved holding her even during her nap times.
While there, Bob helped Ty to put together an outdoor shed for their backyard. You know Bob, he is always happiest when he has a tool in his hand! When done they were already filling it with Ty's tools, and I know this is going to be a great addition to their backyard area.
I had been knitting a baby blanket that turned into a much longer project than I anticipated and even spent some of her nap time in our room working to finish the blanket. I started this project back in December and every time I worked on it I would lift my future granddaughter up in prayer. I also would pray for Mary's pregnancy and for their soon to be family of 3. I was really happy with how it turned out and hope she will love it as much as I loved making it for her.
We did manage a few outings while there including some walks with the baby in the stroller and a visit to Bob's favorite brewery. And just to be fair to me, we also visited a nice winery along the river on a beautiful afternoon.
We hated to leave but needed to head to San Diego. My family was gatering for the week to spend some time together and celebrate the amazing life of my mom. We first enjoyed Father's Day with my 94 (soon to be 95) year old dad. It was a fun afternoon where 13 of us got together and Bob grilled us all hamburgers.
On the following Saturday, My siblings, spouses and my dad boarded my brothers boat and went out to sea going right by Point Loma where we all grew up and my parents lived for 50 years. We then took time to all say our thoughts and shared memories of my mom. It was emotional but such a sweet time. Next we spread her ashes and threw rose petals into the ocean with the sun shining, beautiful boats sailing by in the distance, birds flying overhead and even some sea lions occasionally popped their heads up out of the sparkling water. Champagne was then corked so we could toast to my mom and of course we brought out her favorite thing.......chocolate! It was a perfect send off for a amazing mom and wife.
The next day, which would have been my mom's 93rd birthday, we had a larger gathering at the San Diego Yacht Club. The grandchildren along with moms friends joined us for an afternoon reception. The room opened up to a large deck with a beautiful view of all the boats. We enjoyed great food, drink and fellowship. Then my brother gave a wonderful talk that really captured the essence of my mom. My sister read a sweet poem about mothers, and one of the grandchildren, Derek shared how my mom had given him the love of music in his life. My dad introduced a dear friend that had set mom and dad up on a blind date all those years ago. They celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary right before my mother passed away! A sweet and uplifting gathering and I know my mom would have loved this entire weekend and it was exactly what she would have wanted. She loved her family so much and I know she would have been most excited just to see us all together enjoying each others company.
It had been an emotional two weeks of seeing "the circle of life" played out. We are now home and I know you won't be surprised to hear we leave in 3 days to drive the RV north! But those details will be in my next blog!
I love and miss you mom!
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