Discovering an Artist
My daughter, Violet, discovered Georgia O’Keeffe in school this week!
Art by Violet
A couple of days ago Violet walked out of school and was telling me about her art class that day. She handed me her art, while we walked to the car, and as soon as I opened it I knew who the artist was, that they were studying, but I didn’t say anything, as I love to hear about her experience and let her tell me about what happened.
She said, “We were studying an artist today that lived in the desert, she painted images of flowers, and she painted other desert things.” She paused and then said, “But I can’t remember her name, I think you would like her though.”
When I opened up the artwork and I saw a large beautiful flower that Violet had painted. I smiled and said, was her name Georgia O'Keeffe, and she grinned, yes, that was who they had been studying. I told her about my love for O'Keeffe's work, how I had studied her work in college, and how I would LOVE to get to go and see O'Keeffe's museum in Santa Fe, NM.
I love the conversations that we have and love the art that has been part of the kids' lives. We are so lucky to have had some really great art teachers in our kids’ lives. So, thank you to all the beautiful artists and art teachers that make a difference in our children's lives!
No Place Like Home
No Place Like Home
Dorothy, from The Wizard of Oz, said it right, there truly is no place like home. I have been thinking a lot about home since the loss of my mom.
The other day I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, in each episode, I find something new that I learn or even just something that I truly enjoy and have that moment of, yes! In one of the recent episodes, they were discussing the theme of Home. What is home, what makes us feel at home? Is it the physical location or is it something else?
I’m sure that many of us know our answer to that question without having to really think about it. What the hosts of that podcast suggested for an answer to the question of what is home was that home is not a place but a moment. When I heard that I jotted a note down and just sat there really letting that sink in.
Honestly, that is how I feel and have felt but to hear someone else say it was amazing. I needed to hear that to process more of what we, my whole family, are going through. And, it’s the truth, right? Our physical homes are certainly a place where you can feel relaxed, it is where you have your things, where you can be yourself with nobody watching. But as I think about the times that I feel “at home” it isn’t the physical home that I think of. It is the people and the memories that are wrapped up in that feeling. For me, it is the moment of playing pirates up at the top of trees, the rich taste of your favorite childhood ice cream, the feeling of your child’s hand reaching up to be held, or being held by the ones that you love.
What I have found is that home is the feeling of the people you love and love you.
My Mom
My Mom
How do write a post about one of the most important people in your life? How do you say goodbye to someone who has always been there? My mom, one of my best friends, left us suddenly on July 30, 2020, and every day since has just been a series of figuring out life without her. I miss her so much and just wish I could talk to her. I wish I could tell her all of the little things that have been going on and talk to her about all of the big things, as well. My mom has always been there and always available for me to call. I can’t believe that she is gone and now we only have memories.
It is the little traditions that I have come to count on, without even knowing it, that tug on my heart. Walking into Costco and not being able to call and see if she needs me to pick anything up. Or like tonight, the night before Myles’ birthday, wanting to call and recount the story of Bryce and I calling my family, who had just arrived in Minnesota, to tell them my water broke, seven weeks early, and that I was on my way to the hospital. I can hear my mom getting choked up and telling me how nervous she was. I remember her telling me how the whole house was up all night worrying about the three of us. And now I have to create a new tradition and hold those memories of our old tradition close to my heart.
I have spent a lot of time, over the last couple of weeks, thinking about what a wreck this year has been. 2020 has been a struggle for all of us. I don’t like this year at all but I have managed to find a silver lining to it. First I’ll explain that for the last eight or so years the kids and I have gone to visit my parents on Fridays and when both the kids were in school I went to visit on my own. Now back to 2020, like many families we have been home since March. We made the choice to stay away from everyone so that we could continue to see and help my parents. (We didn’t want them going to stores or out in public where they would be around the coronavirus.) Because of this, it made it where the kids and I were going up to see them more often than just our weekly visits. My silver lining to the quarantine is that my kids got to spend three months’ worth of Fridays with their Gramma that they wouldn’t have if this year hadn’t turned out the way that it did.
I love my mom and miss her so very much.