I have been awake for hours. My mother-in-law passed away yesterday evening. This was not unexpected, and as they say... her time had come. For hours I have been thinking of all that I learned from her about cooking, organic gardening, canning and how to burp a baby. She taught me to vote for who and what you believe in, even when you know they won't win. My mother-in-law was an opinionated woman, but she never criticized me, seriously - not once. She was a very intelligent, hard working, joyous and generous person who devoted herself to others. Truly a great role model for me and others, and a 'salt of the earth' woman. I will miss her deeply.
As life will have it, for a couple of weeks I have been gearing up to do a post in honor of my father, he passed away four years ago. At the time, my co-workers gave me the absolute-most-gigantic Christmas cactus there ever was. Seriously, this plant took your breath away when you looked at it. It was a great visual diversion at the time. Though my father passed away in mid-December, for the past four years this wonderful plant has bloomed like there was no tomorrow starting in early November. I love this plant. It is so big, colorful, over the top, and says 'I AM IN THE ROOM RIGHT HERE' - that for a few weeks each year now... at the time of being THANKFUL... I get to be reminded of him and SEE/feel his presence. His presence was indeed great in many ways and always filled a room, though I don't think he'd go for that much pink.
My love to all.
My love to all.
