The last time that I wrote was shortly after my father died. That was in October, and so much has happened since then. As many of you know losing a parent or a close loved one is very hard and takes a long time to process. This Father's Day will be difficult as it is our first without Dad. Losing my father left a huge hole in my mother's life, and left her in a big old house that was too much for her to take care of on her own. After several months of deep depression and determination to stay in her big house, she finally moved into an apartment in a great retirement community. Needless to say her children were happy, we didn't have to be continually worried about her safety, and now she has a view from her 15th floor apartment. I took this picture from her terrace one foggy evening.
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My 90 year old mother is now starting her life over in a new living situation without her lifelong friend of over 68 years. She is making some new friends and is learning how to play card games such as "Hand and Foot." If you have ever played this game you know how many steps it takes and all the score keeping involved. She is taking exercise classes, goes on walks with friends, attends plays and goes on field trips. She still has a lot of contact with family and constant calls. I call her "Miss Popularity."
She can afford to live in a nice community because she and my father lived very frugally. I came to realize just how frugally after my father died and we had to clean out the house.
Dad made his own tools and had one for every job. These are some examples that we found in the car port. The major repairs that the house needed got attended to, but loose sockets were duct taped and the plug got supported like this. There were so many examples like this. Mom would get many new things as presents, but she would use old ones until they were completely worn out. They were "children of the Depression." They knew the value of a dollar and they saved their money.
Please don't think for a minute that I am making fun of my parents, I love them dearly, and I marvel at their strength.
I have continued to work on my felting, making some vintage style hats and flowers to go on them. I am a co-op member in a gallery now, but I still have to get my artist page written up. I am the second newest member. This is new and exciting for me. I hope to do a better job of posting now, and I hope to hear form some of my dear friends out there. Love and hugs to you, Cameron
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My 90 year old mother is now starting her life over in a new living situation without her lifelong friend of over 68 years. She is making some new friends and is learning how to play card games such as "Hand and Foot." If you have ever played this game you know how many steps it takes and all the score keeping involved. She is taking exercise classes, goes on walks with friends, attends plays and goes on field trips. She still has a lot of contact with family and constant calls. I call her "Miss Popularity."
She can afford to live in a nice community because she and my father lived very frugally. I came to realize just how frugally after my father died and we had to clean out the house.
Please don't think for a minute that I am making fun of my parents, I love them dearly, and I marvel at their strength.
I have continued to work on my felting, making some vintage style hats and flowers to go on them. I am a co-op member in a gallery now, but I still have to get my artist page written up. I am the second newest member. This is new and exciting for me. I hope to do a better job of posting now, and I hope to hear form some of my dear friends out there. Love and hugs to you, Cameron
Oh Cameron, it is so good to hear from you again.
ReplyDeleteI love the story of your Dad's frugality and the photo of his ingenuity with tools and his socket support. That is just too precious and those tools could be an art display on their own. Having lost my Dad I have to tell you it gets easier as time is your best friend.
So happy to hear your Mom has successfully made the change to her new life and is enjoying it. That is so important and I am sure a big relief for all of you.
And those hats!!!! Wow! I love them!
Good to have you back again Cameron. I am glad that your mother has made the transition successfully. Frugality is to be admired and something that we should all practise more.
ReplyDeleteThe hats are just stunning
It's so good to have news of you again, Cameron! Isn't it wonderful, how your mother has embraced her new living situation?!? What a relief and a blessing.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! We've missed you!! XXO-
Great to see you here again Cameron. It is good that your Mother has settled so well into her new life, it must have been hard for all of you saying goodbye to your old home.
ReplyDeleteI can see you have created many new wonderful pieces of art.
I never for a second thought you were making fun of your father's ingenuity in creating useful tools. The way my back feels these days, I may have to make some of those myself! Glad that you were able to be there for your mom and to help her in this difficult transition. It sounds like she is making the best of her situation and we could all learn from that attitude. Good to see you back and I see you have a gorgeous new header and some wonderful new work. Hats are likely much easier on your body, your hands, and yet still so very creative and lovely.
ReplyDeleteGood you're back. Life can be hard sometimes. We had a tough year last year. And on a positive note I just love the shapes of those new hats. Gives me an idea!
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