Why I Have Been Away for a While~

Hi everyone.  I am sorry I have been away for a while.  The reason has been that I lost my beautiful mother last month on May 20th and I have been quietly processing the loss of Mom.  

I had originally planned on posting a casual summer tablescape to jump start my blog back into publication.  By nature, I am a fairly private person.  I guess I got that from my mom.  I wasn't planning on posting about losing her but, I thought, to be authentic, I should mention what has been going on in my life as of late.  Right after Mom's death, I was called upon to write her obituary and deliver her eulogy. Therefore, I am not going to write about my mother here only to say that she was an extraordinary person and the most influential woman in my life.  She was a woman of many talents and many strengths, and I miss her and our close relationship very much.

The main purpose in writing this post is to explain my absence and to give you a little sense of why I have been slow to get back.  I have given myself time to reflect on my mom and all she meant to me in a very quiet and personal way.  My mother suffered from dementia for nearly 14 years so, as they say, it has been a long goodbye but, my mother was so much more than her dementia and I have wanted to focus on those memories of her.  I was not given that luxury in the last several years, so I have taken these moments to remember her in that way.

Also, they say that death waits for no one, and that is true, but life doesn't slow down because of death either. This I have found, as well.  Since May 20th, life has brought some joy and actually more trials and tribulations to our family than I could have imagined. I have been sorting through all of this, as well.  

I think I may be ready or almost ready to get back into blogging again and will probably post my casual summer tablescape next week if all goes well.  Please do not give up on me yet.  I hope to get back to a new "normal" soon.  

Thanks so much for listening.