Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Another Break.....but I am ready to be back!

It is still February and I feel like this year is just not letting me take off.  I guess it is ok though.  I am trying to go with the flow, and not stress.  My shoulder still isn't quite right and my other is starting to bother me from compensating- so I guess its time for some physical therapy.  However, I am creating again a bit, in small batches.  

Then, two weekends ago, we lost my uncle, and 24 hours later we lost my grandfather.  It was a huge blow to the family to lose them both so close.  They were both ready to go, and we know my grandfather went to be with his son, he was not even sick or anything.  Still, we miss them.  So, last week was just a wash. 
My grandfather with my kids over the summer.  taking us out to breakfast was a special time we tried to do as often as we could

 I took time to spend with family, and we had dinners, and time going through boxes of pictures, and memories and tears.  It was all good.  I loved spending time with my cousins and aunts and uncles.

I mean, finding pictures of us as bored teens was priceless!!!!  I am in the center with the 80's perm I loved

  We all lived within 2-5 minutes of each other growing up and saw each other daily- with my grandparents house being the main hub of the family.  So many memories.  I loved spending time remembering our care free days together.


I got to work on some memorial necklaces for my uncle throughout the week- which also helped.  
My uncle with the love of his life- his wife Jean.  

Because for me, creating is therapy, and it felt good to think I could do something ......anything.....to help.  My cousin wanted something to contain her fathers ashes....so I was explaining ways we could do that.  He so loved his weapons, and she said it would be cool if you could make something like a bullet.  It was a great idea- because I had a bunch of brass casings!  Not everyone wanted ashes though, so, it was something I could make with or without.  I will be putting up more detail on the process over at Love my Art Jewerly this week.

Anyhow, here is what they ended up looking like.


And of course, during this time, life threw me lots of curve balls, as if grieving wasn't enough.......like, the hubs was away, and due home Sunday for the memorial service.  Sunday morning one of the kids began throwing up, then the hubs broke down and didn't make it home on time.  My nerves were shot- but I made it to the memorial thanks to a dear friend (lots of friends offered to sit with my sick kid actually, which was overwhelmingly kind of them).  

The memorial service was beautiful.  My cousin thought we should make family tree's for the pictures, so we spent Friday making them with the kids.  Here they are on the table at the memorial service.  (same cousin with the bullet idea- she is so creative!)








:sigh:
They were great men, they were fathers, uncles, brothers, husbands and friends.  They will be so very missed.  

I am trying to get back into the swing of things.

Yesterday my sickie stayed home a day to recover- and it was nice to just chill out and watch movies with him and the dogs.
We watched Malificent again, oh, how I love that movie!



I made a list of movies to watch on Netflix while I pour myself into some bead making over the next couple days.  Then its tax time, and I need to enter my years worth of receipts, but at this point, I may as well REALLY wait till the last minute....lol  

I think movies and beads is just what I need.  I still have to work on my Bead Dreams entries as well, so I am hoping playing and making beads will bring me inspiration.  I have sketches but can't seem to narrow down to exactly what I want to create.

The biggest thank you to my friends and family, for all the support during this difficult time.  It is much appreciated.  Those personal messages, and the offers of help- all needed.  Thank you.  I have the best friends.  Both online and in person :)  



8 comments:

  1. sorry for your loss staci but thank you for sharing the very healthy way your family dealt with their losses.. photo / memory tree, jewelry design project to contain your uncles ashes (brilliant BTW) and activities like those help us navigate the process of grieving.. using your creativity to help other family members with the loss is therapeutic as well. Life does throw curveballs and you seemed to handle all of them like a pro.
    I hope you all continue to spend time honoring the memories of those who have passed and create wonderful new memories as well

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  2. I am so very sorry to hear about the passing of your uncle and grandfather. I know it must have been a very difficult time for everyone. It sounds like your creativity and family helped to get you through it. Embracing the many wonderful memories and creating a special keepsake, as you did with the bullet necklace, is a beautiful way to pay tribute to both of them.

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  3. I am so sorry for you losses Staci. Losing both of them back to back must have been really hard. It sounds like your families made the best of the situation remembering the good times. The keepsake you created was beautiful and I know will be cherished. Take time to grieve and heal. I hope your shoulder improves soon.

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  4. So sorry for your loss Staci. Sounds like you're doing what you know helps you get through. Am also sorry there were all these other distractions fending for attention during this grieving process. Love the tree idea and bet many enjoyed it. It's one of those day at a time things, isn't it? Take care.

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  5. You guys are just wonderful. I thought I'd share, because the tree idea was a great idea that my cousin had, and it was so very therapeutic to go through pictures together and tape them back to back and hang them up. I thought it was something other people may try! I am a picture person, I take a million and I love going through them. through the loss, we are all finding some love, and laughter still. we are a resilient family, I am so proud of all my cousins, my mom and my aunts and uncles.

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  6. So sorry for so many loses in such a short time! I do believe creating is therapy for the soul. I wanted to make a bullet casing for keeping ashes of my husband's brother as he was an avid hunter so very curious about your process as I never did do it. You are such a strong woman. Take care.

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  7. I'm sorry for your losses. I'm glad you had so much family around so you could all help each other. Your bullet pendant is wonderful. What a nice memory of your uncle for people! It's great to have something like that you can do to help people through a time like this, including yourself!

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