Birthday wishes going Up...

...to Heaven, for my Mom. Today's her birthday--she would've turned 74 today had she lived. For the first time in the ten birthdays that have passed since she's been gone, I did not find myself in the birthday card aisle looking for a birthday card for her. That's progress and a sign of healing grief, right? :/

I'd like to imagine she's kvetching with all her loved ones up there, including my newly arrived Uncle Ron, whom we lost last Sunday night (I'm going to post something about that in a bit). She'd never say she had a favorite over her two brothers, but I think Ron was her favorite of her two brothers, LOL, and they were quite close when she was alive--despite a several years' age difference. I'd also like to reckon that she's going to be golfing today, tending to her flower beds, and watching some of her favorite old (and new for all I know, LOL) television shows. ;)


The picture below gets so much mileage because I love it so much, and also because I have to get offa my duff and get the few other pics I have here with me scanned in and on my PC...It's just...*her*...She could be a wacky broad, and I so loved that about her...



Happy 74th birthday, Mom!! I love you and miss you. I'll be keeping an eye out for any and all butterflies you might be sending out to say "Hi" to let me know you're doing alright. Hoping you've been resting well...

Uncle Ron...

Got some sad news on Monday afternoon from cousin Greg: our Uncle Ron George passed away on Sunday night. Thank God for Facebook Messenger and for hooking up as friends with one's cousins on social media--my brother and I have long since not been published in the Kenosha phone book (I obviously moved away and my brother ditched his landline), and the George side of the family is so notoriously bad for communication...we all love each other to pieces, but with busy lives and all of us being relatively shy and keep-to-ourselves sorts of creatures, we don't communicate much unless Something Happens in the Family most times. Anyway, because of FB messenger, Greg was able to ping me (and I think my brother) and let me (us) know the news and we talked for a while on the phone. He was also able to give me one of Uncle Ron's daughter's phone numbers so I could get more information from her, too. Thanks, Greg, ever so much for thinking of FB to get ahold of John and me!!

Uncle Ron and Aunt Darlene relocated to Arizona when he retired, so seeing them both was a yearly thing at best after they moved. My mom was close to Uncle Ron, and he came out from AZ to be with her in what ended up being her final month of life, caring for her when my brother and I were both at work and unable to be there for her. It was Very Special of him to do that for her, and for us, and for that we are eternally grateful. I couldn't thank him enough before he left for home after she passed...

I'm sad that, after Mom passed, I largely lost touch with her side of the family. She really was the social instigator of the family, and without her...yeah...Anyway, I've now got two George cousin's current phone numbers, so I'll be trying harder to keep in touch a little more often than when somebody among us is ill or dead...For family being so important to me, I'm woefully uncommunicative, aren't I?

Anyway. I hope and pray my Uncle Ron is getting his due rest in A Great Place Out There and that he runs into my parents and his folks sometime soon. That he's healthy once again and cracking those corny jokes...I love you, Uncle Ron...

Here's a pic of my Uncle Ron. It perfectly captures how I remember him--smiling with his whole face, with a glint of mischief in his eyes...

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"Kate Bush - This Woman's Work" (Watch on YouTube)