Hear My Voice - Inviting - Collab with Rachel Jefferies and Lynn Grieveson:
https://the-lilypad.com/store/Hear-My-Voice-18-Inviting-Digital-Scrapbooking-Collection.html
Friends Word Strip: NBK Design - New Beginning:
https://the-lilypad.com/store/new-beginning-option.html
Journaling, 473 words:
I met Mindy in the mid-1970’s when she and Chas became a couple. John and I were at their wedding, attended family celebrations and gatherings over the years. I can recall only one girl outing with the family, but Mindy initiated it... And then came the wreck of 2023. John was hospitalized for weeks on end at the beginning of the year. With me being a very rusty driver, Mindy would message me nightly to make sure that I was safely home. She was there to offer hugs after John passed away in April. She drove me and offered support at the funeral home, when I had to deal with John’s cremation. She took time out of her busy schedule to help clean the living room rug and the recliner that John had used in his last days. She took me to a live butterfly exhibit to alleviate my pain, if only for a few hours. She helped haul rotten logs to the burning pile. And then 64 days later, in June, her beloved Chas passed away unexpectedly. I was there to hug her, to comfort her. She was now officially a widow, as was I. Those messages continued, although they are now at least twice daily, once in the morning for the “all clear” and another one in the evening to wish each other a good night. She lives in the country, as do I, just three miles of rural roads apart. We continue to offer support for each other. We allow ourselves to grieve. We will probably never stop grieving. She understands what I am going through, as so many people would not. Sometimes I will chauffeur her, she needs that. We have gone grocery shopping together. We have gone antiquing, to an apple orchard. We go to restaurants, sometimes dine-in, but mostly carry-outs to my place and drink sparkling water out of champagne flutes, using cloth napkins with the food served on fancy dishes. We share excess food we’ve made. (Another thing that I would have never considered, cooking for one is SO hard to judge.) I’ve been to a July celebration at her son’s home. I’ve gone to a winter tea at her granddaughter’s school, I have attended her mother’s 90th breakfast birthday. I watch her cats four times a week when she is up in Middleton with her daughter’s family. Mindy, in return, feeds my outdoor critters when I am gone. She has introduced me to sandhill cranes who frequent her property in the spring and summer. I love her sassy attitude. She is a fantastic weather person; she will give me the forecast for the day. Mindy is kind beyond measure. I am deeply in debt to all she has done for me, both physically and mentally. I feel fortunate to call her my friend, my sister.
