Sure has been awhile....or otherwise titled "What I did on my summer vacation"

Sooo, I'm back-ish, yes I added an "ish" because frankly, the last time I said I was back at it, I think I posted about 4 times and then took a 3 month hiatus HAH! And know what? I am A-OK with that. I've come to accept that this project will take as long as it takes, and I thank each and every one of you that has stuck with me on this journey. I truly had not idea when I started this project where it would lead and what the effect would be. When I first lost my mom, the thing I missed the most was the ability to talk to her, the simple back and forth as we spoke nearly every day. As she always used to say when we would leave the house after visiting her on vacation "the silence was deafening" This blog has given me the opportunity to 'talk' to her again, and to store and archive as many memories as I can, before they start to softly fade. I never anticipated how healing it would be to have a forum to pour out the contents of my heart. To laugh, to cry, to remember. She is physically gone, but always she shows herself to me in little ways. This post is truly proof of that:

At my Daughter Daisy's baby shower, one of my dearest friends had the idea to start an add-a-pearl necklace for her. She gave each shower guest a silk pouch with two pearls and a blank card on which to write a note for the new baby to be, The idea was that each year, she would open one pouch and note, and the pearls would be added to a necklace that she would one day wear as a young woman. I waited until her 10th birthday to give her the pearls and notes, thinking she would now have a better understanding of how cool this idea is. Above is the FIRST note I pulled (out of over 30!) Nice work mom.