Spring - FINALLY!!

We have had snow a couple times a week all this month.  Apparently, someone forgot to tell Mother Nature that it's supposed to be spring.  I, however, do not judge the seasons by the calendar, or the weather.  For me, a trip to the garden tells me what I want to know.  And yesterday, FINALLY, I found spring:

The daffodils that have been teasing me all week are finally open.  In my yard, winter is officially over ~

Memories in the Mail

My aunt sent me some photos of a wedding I was in nearly 25 years ago.  Believe it or not, I don't recall ever seeing these photos before.  The bride was my cousin, Cindy, and I have not seen or talked to her since the wedding.  I don't know why.  Cindy and her new husband moved away a few months later, and she has since cut all ties with our family.  We were not really close, but I always wanted to be.  She's a pretty cool person, and I always looked up to her.  I'm sad that she has decided to go her own way, but I respect her decision.  I did email her a couple years ago, when a favorite aunt was dying, but she never responded directly to me.  She did post a rather rude badge to her blog, something about flying monkeys, and I realized then that whatever caused her to walk away from our family had created a wound so deep, it will never heal.  I haven't read her blog since that favorite aunt died, but I think about Cindy all the time. The sad part is, we have so much in common.  If we didn't share DNA, if we met at work or through mutual friends, I'm pretty sure we'd have been great friends.  My door will always be open to Cindy, but I know she will never walk through it.

A red dress for a Valentine's wedding ~

My partner.  I don't remember his name, but I know he was the groom's brother.  This was taken at the end of the night, and I was pretty darn tired of getting my photo taken. 

Milestone

This lovely lady is Walker's Grandma Lucille.  She turned 100 years young last week.  We threw a party for her on Saturday, which I believe she enjoyed, though she didn't know who many of us were, including Walker and me.  She greeted us, and thanked us for coming, then asked, again, "Who are you?  Do I know you? Do you know me?"  Walker's mom had written to the White House and they sent a card signed by President and Mrs. Obama, the highlight of her day.  It was a wonderful family celebration ~

Calendar Said Easter, Feels Like Thanksgiving

This is not my car.  It belongs to my brother and sister in law, and they were in it when this accident happened.  They were hit by a train, and by the grace of God, neither was seriously hurt.  Diva, who rides in the back when she is with them, was safely at home at the time. Needless to say, this event changed the tone of our Easter holiday, but I am just so, so grateful that it wasn't worse.