Good-Bye

I spent most of the day going through my pictures looking for a certain picture of my son-in-law. I know I saw it recently because I thought how cute he looked in it. This is Dan with two of his kids at a family Christmas gathering, a long time ago. The kids are grown up now, of course, but the picture is all Dan, a real great family man and one hell of a nice guy. 
He passed away yesterday morning in a car accident. Any extra warm thoughts or prayers you have would be welcomed by his family.

I See Dead People ...

I have been going through the few photographs I have, in an attempt to make a family representation for those coming behind me. I have 23 actual photographs, thanks to my cousins Janet and Suzie. Many of the pictures I have are shots of photographs that I took on a trip to Minnesota about 7, maybe 8 years ago. I took the shots in a hurry, as there were so many of them and so little time to do it. In my hurry, they didn't all turn out as well as I hoped. The photographs were at another cousin's home.

I've tried to take pictures of the actual, physical photographs that I have. (Like the one of my mom and dad in the lower left hand of the collage.) About the only way I can get a better shot (if at all) is to buy a copy stand for my camera. After pricing them, I have decided a slightly imperfect copy will have to do. After all, the shots that I took of my cousin's aren't all that bad.

While putting the collage together, I realized that in the upper left picture, only 5 of the youngsters are still alive - I guess. On the right hand side, in the middle, I believe the youngest of the little boys are still around - I would hope, but maybe not. As a child, I knew most of these people. My children really don't have a clue who they are. Oh, I'm sure they can point out a few, but they never really met very many, and my youngest none at all.

Am I wasting my time trying to save these for them? 

How I died once ...

The thing about bears ...

John of Going Gently gave us the rundown on 'The Revenant' and got me thinking, er, remembering. 

I, at 8 summers old, am running through the woods, trying to dodge the trees. The autumn leaves crunch beneath my moccasins. I can see my soft leather leggings as I check for a clear path to run. I breathe hard. My heart pounds. I look behind me. I can hear the bear crashing through the brush. Terrified, I try to run faster, yet know there is no escape. One last look. His jaws are open in a roar as he takes his prey.

No, I am not into bears ...

 

Beyond the sunset ...

It does seem like everyone has someone dying, doesn't it? My cousin Janet informed me yesterday, about my Aunt Martha. She passed away on Saturday. I hadn't seen her in 45-50 years.

 I asked her about the service and she didn't know. While we were on the phone, I looked up her obit on the net. According to the obituary, Aunt Martha has donated her body to science. Well, good for her! I looked into it a few years ago and there was so much paperwork that I decided not to - paperwork drives me up the wall. Besides, my record keeping left a lot to be desired. They don't take just anybody you know. They want your pedigree and everything!

Well, I hope her donation will help science and medicine in some way. Right now, I am a tad upset with NCIS for putting this vision in my head - where delicate Aunt Martha is on a body farm. Oh!

Have a good weekend!