The world is going through some serious things, all very painful, all tragic.
One of my favorite aunts died yesterday, in her sleep. She was ninety-one years old and had a hard time coping with the death of her loving husband and a subsequent stroke. She was simply tired of being alive, even less after her youngest son recently died of cancer. Last week, her entire family (on the east coast) gathered by her side for her birthday but they said it was as if she was already transitioning, already thinning the veil between here and there or nowhere.
This Mary Oliver quote from her poem, “Invitation”, really says it all: It is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in the broken world
It could mean something. It could mean everything.
It seemed like he’d live forever even with dementia, but nope. Rest in peace to legendary Anthony Dominick Benedetto, better known as Tony Bennett. He was 96 years old.
Not just an amazing musical artist, did you know that while he was in the Army, he was demoted for having dinner with a black friend?
Did you also know that while in the Army, he hunted Nazis and helped liberate Dachau prisoners?
Did you know that he marched with Martin Luther King and promoted musicians of color in the 1950s and 60s?
He won eighteen Grammy Awards, honors from the United Nations, and the Kennedy Center. Tony found new success later in life when he collaborated with Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga, recording acclaimed music and touring together,
Here’s confirmation.from San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department:
Coroner Identifies Remains Located in the Mt. Baldy Wilderness Area on June 24, 2023
DATE/TIME: June 24, 2023 / 10:00 a.m. INCIDENT: Human Remains Located LOCATION: Mt. Baldy Wilderness Area DECEASED PARTY: Julian Sands, 65-year-old resident of North Hollywood, CA
UPDATE- June 27, 2023: The identification process for the body located on Mt. Baldy on June 24, 2023, has been completed and was positively identified as 65-year-old Julian Sands of North Hollywood. The manner of death is still under investigation, pending further test results.
We would like to extend our gratitude to all the volunteers that worked tirelessly to locate Mr. Sands.
Hopefully, this information will offer some kind of solace to family and loved ones.
UPDATE: Another lovely Australian, Olivia Newton John, passed away Monday, August 8, 2022. How sad!
Judith Durham, Australia’s folk music icon, died yesterday at the age of seventy-nine. Sources report cause of death was a long battle with chronic lung disease.
Judith’s bandmates Bruce Woodley, Keith Potger, and Athol Guy said their lives had been changed forever by losing their treasured lifelong friend and shining star.
I’m reminded of Karen Carpenter, another iconic singer. There are only a few voices that possess such pure, magical, soulful qualities.
If you’ve never heard of The Seekers, here’s some of their biggest hits…
From The Seekers Farewell Tour 2013, I’ll Never Find Another You. Listening to it, I think her voice is even more beautiful than in the original, if that’s even possible.
Have you heard of the 1966 film, Georgy Girl, with Lynn Redgrave, Charlotte Rampling, and James Mason? It’s absolutely worth watching. I might watch it tonight as an homage to Judith Durham.
Back in 1967, when The Seekers returned home to Australia for a visit, little did they know that their free concert at the Myer Music Bowl in their home town of Melbourne would break attendance records for the Southern hemisphere and TV ratings records for Australia.
The group sang live on the day, but because no promo video existed for the original (1966) hit version of the song, it is this which was used for the audio.
A World of Our Own:
Red Rubber Ball:
An earlier version of this song, Judith Durham’s voice is EVERYTHING:
I love these photos of Bandit because as sweet as she looks, this girl took absolutely no shit from anyone.
One minute she would allow herself to be stroked and loved and her long silky fur brushed, and seemingly for no reason at all, except maybe to herself in her weird kitty brain, she’d lash out and inflict serious damage with her teeth or claws.
Late in life, Bandit was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and chronic renal failure. With the help of a great vet, we did all we could to extend her quality of life as long as possible, but on July 26, 2010, at the age of thirteen, there was no denying that her journey as my spiritual kitty daughter had come to an end. The doc came over and assisted her transition over the Rainbow Bridge.
Bandit is the one I still dream about; freaky lucid dreams as if she’s still here with me.
She’d be 107 years old today. I miss her more than she probably ever imagined.
Her legacy endures because Angel Boy 1.0 and DIL named Angel Girl after her. They have photos of her at their home and both children know who she is and how much of an honor it is to be named for her. She’s Daddy’s grandma, Grandma’s mommy.
Since my mom was an absolutely amazing grandma, I try to emulate some of the same things she did with my son; have endless patience with laser focused attention, play with them forEVER, and take each of them solo toy shopping.
“Look what Grandma got me, Mommy!Grandma said I could get ANYTHING I wanted” as my son showed me one Matchbox car, the only thing he chose. (He always was frugal!)
I knew it wasn’t the object that made him happy, it was spending time with Grandma that was fun and special. And important.
Happy Birthday! I wish we all had more time with her, that’s for sure.
Driving around doing errands this morning, I heard one of her favorite songs at least three times, a message for sure! She loved Prince’s When Doves Cry, and so do I.
Today is a sad day; another truly good human has transitioned…
The International Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism announced “our beloved teacher Thich Nhat Hanh passed away peacefully at Từ Hiếu Temple in Huế, Vietnam, at 00:00hrs on 22nd January, 2022, at the age of 95.”
In honor of his life of kindness, how about we do this:
Practices to help cultivate self-love and loving-kindness from Sister Dang Nghiem (ordained as Dharma teacher by Thich Nhat Hanh).
From her book ‘Flowers in the Dark’ (Parallax 2021)
Update on Saturday to add this from the Dalai Lama:
“In his peaceful opposition to the Vietnam war, his support for Martin Luther King and most of all his dedication to sharing with others not only how mindfulness and compassion contribute to inner peace, but also how individuals cultivating peace of mind contributes to genuine world peace, Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh lived a truly meaningful life. I have no doubt the best way we can pay tribute to him is to continue his work to promote peace in the world.”https://bit.ly/35dUncV
**This is so strange. I only published this post today, June 26, but it shows that it was published on the 24th, so I am RE-writing and posting again. Very odd WordPress, very odd.
We had a bit of rain, just a few drops, definitely not the kind of rain we need here in the Southwest, but I think my veggie garden was grateful for it.
When I went outside to check on the status of baby lettuce seedlings, I noticed a Monarch butterfly entangled in the netting surrounding the garden. I’ve been forced to use the barrier to keep out squirrels and rats and bunnies. There are plenty of other things in the garden those guys can eat, so I don’t feel too bad about restricting them from my yummy greens.
Carefully, I removed the netting from those delicate wings.
After flying off, s/he returned with a mate and they circled my head a few times as if to thank me. “You’re welcome, guys! I was glad to help.”
Later that afternoon, right before dusk, I went for a walk. There were still beautiful clouds in the sky and I was thinking happy thoughts about the butterflies.
Suddenly, before I could even react, several things happened at once. A white van was driving down the street faster than the twenty-five mile an hour speed limit. A dove flew low across the street, left to right. (Yup, you can see where this is going.) The driver MUST have seen the bird, I’m sure of it.
Without slowing down or trying to avoid the imminent impact, the van ran into the bird, and to make it even more horrific, the back tires finished the slaughter. There were no other cars on the road; simply slowing down would have avoided it completely.
It doesn’t matter to me that there was nothing I could have done to prevent this tragedy. I ran out into the street to see if I needed to take the bird to a vet, but it was too late. Too late. I crouched down on my knees over the little dove almost in shock at the massive destruction the van did to his body. I took a photo because I wanted to remember the poor dear and honor his/her life, but it’s too gruesome to post and I feel it would be disrespectful to the innocent creature.
The bird was probably on his way home, and there might have been nesting babies that won’t be fed and won’t survive all because of the actions of one unaware or uncaring human. What if it was one of the doves I just wrote about that often visit me in the garden? How incredibly sad.
Well, that stripped me of the joy of saving a butterfly, that’s for sure. I’m a fixer and a helper. It’s a tough lesson for me to comprehend that sometimes things can be so terribly damaged that they can’t be mended or put back together, like this poor little bird who was beyond repair.
This made me think of Prince. When doves cry, so do I.
Did anyone watch the televised funeral of Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth’s husband? He died on April 9. Despite one’s personal opinion of the monarchy and their fame, celebrity, and notoriety–tossing aside the gossip, this is a story of enduring love.
I watched some of it and was deeply touched by how small and solitary Queen Elizabeth looked as she sat alone. I turned it off because it didn’t seem right to intrude on her grief.
They had been married for almost seventy-four years.
How tragic for her to lose her life partner, the one she shared great times and the not-so-good times, the highs and the lows, but through it all, there was a shared and sacred commitment to going through life as a loving team; against all odds.
Their eyes focused on each other in this photo really touched my heart:
It reminded me of a Queen song and how ironic is THAT, even more so considering I never heard it before last week when I put American Idol on for a few minutes and one of the contestants sang “Love of My Life“.
If only she could see her namesake or the one that’s a curly haired clone of the other one, that would be truly awesome; however, today we’d be celebrating her 106 years on this earth and that wasn’t meant to be.
She died in 1987 from pancreatic cancer, still one of the most horrible and painful diseases. We took care of her here at home with the help of hospice. Since she was a head nurse, she taught me things like how to do her IV and heparin locks, and she’s the reason why I’m a great caregiver and caretaker. I’m forever grateful that I was able to care for her until the end.
Angel Boy 1.0 was –without a doubt– the love of her life. Here she is with AB at 18 months, the same age as Angel Girl 2.0 is right now. They were best buddies. She would be so very proud that he grew up to be a great dad AND a tenured professor before he was forty years old. (Notice the clever way I slipped that in?) We knew he was VERY smart.
Always fashion forward, I found some old pics of me and mommy. It’s true what they say. You never stop missing your mom, no matter how old you are.
I wonder what I’m reaching for…
Here I am the same age as AB 2.0, just about five years old. Funny thing to share is that I still braid my hair like this in pigtails (like right now) and I still don’t know how to throw a ball, but I DO know for certain that my ribbons perfectly matched my outfit. Always. Check out the saddle shoes that were never dirty.
Happy birthday to the original CharChar; you are missed.
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 