Centerpieces for a Celebration of Life or Other Type of Celebration -- Crafty Sunday Post

 

My father passed away in January. He had suffered from Alzheimer's Disease for over ten years. It was hard to watch his decline all those years. When he died, I truly felt he was finally in a better place. However, the Friday he died was right before one of the big snowstorms we had this past winter. My mother had just gotten out of rehab for her latest hospitalization and was still struggling. We decided to put off any services for our dad. We wanted our mother to be healthier and thought the springtime would be better as Dad loved flowers. We talked about where we wanted to have a celebration of life for him. I came up with the idea of a park, Elizabeth Park, in Hartford/West Hartford because it was a special place for our family growing up. We would ride our bikes there and my father loved the rose garden. In fact, my sisters and I wonder if this is where his love of roses came from. It is the oldest municipal rose garden in the United States and the third largest. Everyone loved the idea. Then came the question of having it at the restaurant/facility center there or outside. We decided to have it at the Pond House Cafe there. It was a beautiful setting and close to the rose garden in case anyone wanted to visit. In fact, I took Hazel and Steve to the rose garden before we began setting up for the celebration.

A Flame Burns On: Lighting the Yahrzeit Candle

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in order to provide an honest review. All opinions are my own.

How do you remember a loved one who has passed? This is a question I have been focusing on lately. My father passed in January, and we are planning his celebration of life. Today we are sharing a book about the Jewish tradition of the yahrzeit candle. It is a tradition I had not heard of. The book is A Flame Burns On by Richard Ho and illustrated by Carmel Ben Ami. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8. 

Picture Books About April Holidays

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in order to provide honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

Last week was the beginning of Lent. That means Easter is coming! This year it is in April. Passover is also in April. But do you know about Qing Ming? It is another holiday in April. Today we are sharing new picture books about Easter and Qing Ming. We will start with the book about Easter. It is E Is for Easter Egg Hunt by Brittany J. Thurman and illustrated by Derick Brooks. It is an alphabet book and is based on the original podcast: Quentin and Alfie's ABC Adventures. It is recommended for ages 3 to 6.

Two Picture Books by Jacqueline Woodson About Family & Love

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in order to provide honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

Family is important. Family is love. For most family is safety. Today we are sharing two beautiful picture books by Jacqueline Woodson about family with very different messages. The first book is Our Gracie Aunt by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by Monica Mikai. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Joyful Sunday -- Finding My Joy During a Time of Grief

 

Joy and grief do not usually go together. The idea of joy however is for joy to be there no matter the circumstances. I have been trying to find my joy this year, and it has been a bit difficult the last week or so. At school, MLK week is tough. We have parent/teacher/student conferences for two and a half days. These are 15-minute online conferences with the entire group of teachers the student has. We work from 8 to 5 with a few breaks. This year was very different for me. On Thursday morning my sister texted me asking me to call her when I had a break. I did. She let me know the hospice nurse was pretty sure our father was transitioning. Now a few years ago an ER doctor told us this and we all ran to his side and got Covid from him. So, the first struggle was, do we go or do we wait. I decided I needed to go after talking to Steve. We gave Hazel the choice of going with us. So, we picked her up at boarding school and drove to Connecticut to say our final goodbyes. Now I missed an afternoon of conferences as a result. I promised Hazel we would not spend the night in Connecticut. She didn't think she could handle it. The next morning, I started conferences again. Steve asked me if I was going to and my answer was, "What else am I going to do? Sit and cry all day?" I made it through all the morning conferences and started my afternoon ones. As my first afternoon conference came to an end, I received the news that he had passed. That was the end of conferences for me.