Perennials for Dad

Our neighbors here in Hudson, Ohio presented us with a lovely gift certificate to a local garden center upon my dad's death. It was so thoughtful and it inspired us to put in a memorial garden in our front yard with a nice bench and a fringe tree, dwarf magnolia and many perennials all around. Those were things dad really liked. The bed is below a large black walnut tree which Dad always commented about when he visited. He said we should be careful because the wood is so prized that when you are vacation someone could come and cut it down for the value of the lumber. It came out very nice.

May 31, 2009

Hi Friends,
Life goes on and I received two emails from people I didn't know who read this blog that wanted to talk about some things so I guess this is worthwhile.

I have been sitting with this elderly lady three times and it feels really good. It is nice to be doing for someone else and to have someone to eat with and prepare meals for. Do you find that sometimes you just can't find the right words so you don't end the sentence in a preposition? Hope no one is reading this for the literary content.

I have hired our grandson Matthew who is 16 to mulch and weed the perennial gardens and around the house. He has been here twice and it really looks nice. The fish pond is finally getting clearer and I am about ready to buy some cheap goldfish. Right now it is a frog pond but the grandkids love that. They smelled so bad when they came in for dinner on Memorial day we had to have them change clothes to eat. Of course I dont' have anything that fits a 9 and 11 year old so they wore some of my old workout shorts and shirts. Andrew came to the table without changing his shirt and when I asked him why, he said " there were sparkels on the shirt. I picked it because it said Nike but didn't see the "sparkles" How funny.

Now that i am single, Michael, our son in Ohio,is going to put my free time to good use. I will be going there the end of June for a week to sit while they have a little getaway and then again the beginning of August while Heidi does the Pan Mass challenge. That is a bike ride put on to raise funds for the Dana Farber institute for Cancer and Heidi's group will ride for Carcinoid Cancer which she has. She will do 80 miles this year. Last year she did 50 - good for her. Her Dad will be riding with her this year and he is 77. Really good for him!!

I'll bet you are wondering how Lucky is doing with his training. Well, when someone else comes over he knows they are dominant and he does really well, but he is still having trouble accepting me as his leader when the golf carts go by. We have switched collars but the improvement is slow. It is like watching a two years old push the boundaries. But I still love him and he is great company.

That's about it from here. Grief groups are going well. Ons stops for the sumer but the other one will go through the summer. It is great to have people to share with who are experiencing the same thing at about the same timeline.

Take care and God Bless.
Mary Anne