.It's been a hard bit o' time of late, but that's typically my reason for being remiss...maybe soonly, I'll be saying that I had such a fabu time that I couldn't take myself away from life to write.
My dear friend, who I met a few lifetimes ago via DEC, told me her Mom passed away. It is a sad thing to lose one's Mom, and I feel for her so much. Her Mom has lived with her for the longest time, ever since I knew Jacqueline. At the end, her Mom was in a home, her care was so acute, and that really never relieves the daughter much, since then there's the visits, and the sadness and seeking of moments of recognition and lucidity. Luckily, Jenny, Jacqueline's Mom, did not have Alz, but no illness is kind.
Jennie Luciano will be sorely missed.
Also in the obit section of this post, my dear friend, I dare to call him friend because we had such a strong connection despite our little contact, Grey Eagle, passed last week. That totally blew my mind, as I felt he'd be here on this planet forever. He was an incredible man. I first met him when he was on TestingTesting reading his works on "air".
He was native american, and what stories! The stories, and his work, mostly were about Vets, especially Viet Nam veterans, and the stress and hell they experienced. He made a safe place for them to tell their stories. At one point, we chatted about doing a web site, but it wasn't to be, the work was too complex at the time for alluvus, and that time was better spent with him working directly with people v. a site.
Now I wish we had persued it then, since he'd have been online and available for all time...but he was such a great guy, funny, smart, kind, and a heart of gold. Brilliant. He was my Dad's age!!! And his birthday was the same as mine. Small world some times. Coincidence? nah! He also was my Tom McPadden in my heart on the west coast. I think I may have written of Tom (aka "Donkey") from my days at Koenig's Art and Drafting supply days? He was so dear as well. If I have not written about him, maybe the time is now, or soonest.
Segue onto huge hearts, and that I ran into Beverly Graham, of cat-giving infamy [through her I have received both Zach and Val] and pure soul who just gives and gives and gives despite her personal demons and chronic illness. I won't name them here, but she is a fighter that manages to create more fabulous environments for people in need.
She started, in Seattle, Operation Sack Lunch. Many moons ago, it was all about handing out sandwiches to the local homeless, and then being picked up for doing this without a license, and now, OpSackLunch is HUGE, feeding so many, and also finding places for them to stay the night. Amazing. Bev also has written law for the state of WA -- a far cry from handing out sandwiches, or is it? Just in how she is perceived, and the quantity of people she helps.
She's also a fabulous musician, and recently, on the end of her latest email, was a link in her .sig file, and I'll share it with you Let Your Heart Break!
Another organization for you to check out (a subsidiary of Operation: Sack Lunch) is Occupation: Next Step.
Some "Next-Steppers" - you can read their powerful stories on the website
There is a donation button if you are as moved as I am. And, don't forget to check out her music at Beverly's music site. It's all connected, including the cats that have found a home with me:
Zachary Kaboodle Graham.Gillman and Valor Bartholomew Graham.Gillman
- such amazing fuzzles
..there is also my kitten from WAIF [her tongue, especially as a kitten, would stick out of her closed mouth -- Mom said that "Maybe it's too long", and from there, a little bit o' insider joke would be when we'd all still out our tongue a bit just for the heck of it . She, Olivia, still has kitten moments, and sticks it out on occasion -- LOVE!
Miz Olivia Rose Gillman
Speaking of animals...well, my mind has to go to Terri and Jenna and their love for animals is boundless. My Grandmother on my Mom's side, Lillian [I've mentioned she was on the radio and called "The 2nd Kate Smith" because of her contralto singing...] loved animals too. Mom used to say she loved them more than she did her and her brother Jay. I'm not so sure she's right, but if she felt that way...well it was real for her. That piece of my Grandmother, aka "Grangraw" (and my grandfather's nom de grandkids was "Granky" WWIT?) has been passed down to us female grandkids (Terri and me), and great-grandkids (Jenna). Well, on to Terri, the latest is that her dearling Dondear has to have surgery at the end of this month -- it stinks, and I won't go into details, they are not mine to share, but please send healing light and love his way. He's a special guy, and he deserves to be feeling well at the end of all this. Prayer is goodness too.
Not to be out-done, the Coale-side of the family has had it's share of nasties too, with Katie dealing with some scary health issues (on the mend now "knock on wood") as has Mikey, with a very high fever that found him in the ER at WGH, but he, too, is on the mend, and soon to be on school break (we are hoping to have some time with him next week -- at one point [shhhhhh] we looked into a surprise trip where we'd tell him to pack his overnight bag, and we'd do a quickie down to disneyland, and back, but dang, the prices were not to be...nor did Gordy and my health cooperate either...maybe later?!? hope hope...!).
And dear Doris found herself also doing a hospital run, but thankfully she's back home snug as a bug "knock wood" yet again. The only problem with a huge family, is that loving these people can hurt a heart when the shit hits the proverbial fan, and, as we all know, it rarely happens with appropriate moments to recover in between. The pluses, well, there are no words for a hug and kiss and some laughter from family.
BTW, Jenny, Bill, Robyn and Evan closed on their house, and moved in PDQ! Their first house -- that is so amazing, we can't wait to see snaps, and later, see it in person - maybe that would be a good visit with Mike when we can swing it and all the stars are aligned as needed.
So, that's it for now. The next post will be more about Mom, me, Gordy et al.
I love Mom so dearly, and basically, she's doing amazingly well. She even reads!
We don't usually get to see "that piece" of her, Gordy and I, but that's ok -- she can relax with us at least, right? I love her so much! I miss her so much. It was good that she was doing well for Gregg's visit, and she was just so happy to see him (as was I)!!! More news later on - sooner rather than later I hope. As a teaser, let me tell you that Gordy found the LIFE Magazine on ebay that his Grandfather, Griff, graced the cover of -- Kewl Beanz!
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