Story Quilts, Hospice. My Friend Ronda and Love for Each Other

I am so happy to share this wonderful Story Quilt! This was started in oregon by my friend Jill in a Story Quilt class and she loves to golf, read, garden and loves color and her kitty! She put all of these ideas together with a Flower Power border and Joila! Magic. I want to do one about my Garden as these two friends inspired me to think things that grow and sunshine and being outside and happy. I think the Flowers from my Flower Power book are especially happy! But didn't these two best friends do great? I give them both blue ribbons. Carol An below started a BUG quilt that had her car from many many many years which is a BUG and also beetles-it won first place in the Oregon quilt show and I think the Pacific Northwest show also...it is amazing. Below she did it again with her glass of wine and beautiful flower garden. Notice how she used COOL colors that fall back for her flowers. Wonderful. Bpoth girls chose differentscolor palettes and  both created happy, wonderful quilts about them. Imagine if your Grandmother or great Grandmother or your Aunts did this! These quilts will be saved and studied and cherished. LOVE these!

Below is a photo I took last week of Mark's baby brother, our son our Grandson and Mark...I love this.

So yesterday was a bitter sweet day for both Mark and I and our family and friends. We went to Cancer Care and they basically said that they have done all that they can for his Gioblastoma-Multiforma. It is a horrible thing for anyone to have and he has been through it. :0)

Yesterday he got up and was so weak and slurred his words and he fell four times last week. So, they sent in the Hospice specialist to talk to us about it and the timing of how long they think he might live which is short.

He cried and could not talk though we both knew really and we held hands. He tried to speak and I was trying not to cry and the angel person named Mary who helped us said to him "you are worried about taking care of your family aren't you?" And he sobbed and nodded "yes." She said "that is understandable but your family has a good belief in God and they just want to love and comfort YOU. Then he said, I am not afraid to die because I believe heaven will be amazing and I will get to be with God. Then I said "this is what makes this journey easier." And the girl said "yes." So now we have it on the table. Our three kids came over and we all had memories and my son put my husband to bed and I could hear them talking and crying together. My son came out of the bedroom and said "I feel so much better because I got to tell Dad everything I always wanted to and how amazing and loving he is and how I will always try to be like him and live up to his example. Made us girls cry. But in the end for me who is trying to be the example of strength, it is really quite beautiful to see how our love for our kids and prayers for my friends over the years has come back to bless us. I am sad but I am happy to and can see where your prayers and kindness have come back to bless me.

I have always said that Quilter's are fixers and we always want to fix each others problems. We are the "church" of quilt and we are the believers in each other and love and kindness and other people who are not quilters, are the unbelievers. :0) And my husband always says "yes, but you are more of a cult because once you begin to quilt, we can't get you back!" Haha.

So, a lady named Ronda Reese leal wrote to my daughter about helping us out. We have many medical bills from Mark's surgery, his brain pathologies, and other things from specialists earlier. Now we are trying to get a little tv room made into a bedroom on our main floor and an unfinished bathroom next it it done. Everything has hit and Mark had to quit work on the day he was diagnosed last June. I pay some of these bills with my teaching money and book money. I have had to cancel jobs due to being home with Mark and it has been hard. But honestly God has been faithful and I sold a quilt for a nice sum and Molly helped me sell little ones at Asilomar which helped pay for a new furnace as ours was cracked and leaking carbon monoxide (we didn't know this but it was not working well. ) ANYWAY, sorry about blithering....

Ronda set up a fun to help us out so I can take care of some of these nagging bills. It is such a relief as I have to be the strong one and worryng about Mark AND the bills is alot.

So if you want to even just look at this site, it is loving and wonderful and dear. She has so blessed us.

http://www.gofundme.com/7z9m5o

OK, enough said about that.

Oh a really happy note for me, my Granddaughter Mary (Lou) drew these two drawings for Mark and I to make us happy and it did! LOVE the innocence of kids art! Isn't it wonderful? Tonight my two daughter are coming over to spend the night and watch movies while I cook something and we will just be happy to be together in the home they used to sleep at. It's been a long time. With every sad thing there are always blessings. My family and my wonderful friends have been my happiness and God has made me feel so happy to know so many GOOD people. I still am trying to laugh and count my many blessings and hope you are too.

 Think of kids art as a Story Quilt and I bet you could do something quite wonderful!
Until next time, thank you sincerely for your thoughts and prayers.