Just a heart shaped tomato, nothing more profound than that. Love is all around.
I kinda sorta didn’t want to eat it, but I did right after I snapped this pic, and it was DELICIOUS.
Growing a Heart | Love is Where You Find It
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Tag Archives: Love
“Here’s What We Do”
Two children thump down the stairs like a herd of bison.
Very loud whispering…”OK, Charlotte, here’s what we do.”
“Every morning, we go into Grandma’s room and we say ‘Get up, Grandma, make breakfast.'”
“Like this…”
“WAKE UP GRANDMA! MAKE BREAKFAST!”
“Now you do it.”
“It’s OK, she likes it.”
“And then we jump on the bed; come on.”
“Char, you want me to turn the light on?”
He runs over to me, whispers in my ear, “Pretend to be asleep, Grandma.”
“Now you do it, Char!”
A very tiny voice says, “Grandma?”
I respond, “GOOD MORNING, you guys!”
And so my day begins.
Honestly, is there any better way to wake up than to be the first person two angels want to see every morning?
I think not.
GRATITUDE.
Chatting with Angel Girl
For a long time, I’ve only FaceTimed with Angel Boy 2.0, but lately this titian-haired Angel Girl grabs the phone from him and runs away with it.
“Me Grandma, MEEEE Grandma!”
An explosion of epic proportions ensued until there was a conversation about sharing Grandma. That was an agreed upon solution to end the dilemma. I also simply hung up, and that was effective, too.
This time, it was Angel Girl 2.0 who called…
Daddy prompts her…
“Tell Grandma what your favorite animal is, Char!”
“Chimpanzee! Chimpanzee! Chimpanzeeeeee!”
Always the supportive Grandma, I reply, “That’s awesome, Char! That’s a very difficult but fun word to say.“
Hey, Char, what’s your favorite COLOR?”
“Chimpanzee! Chimpanzee! Chimpanzeeeeee!”
(Hmmm, seems like we went from genius IQ of 200+ to a normally bright twenty-month-old in a split second.)
“Show Grandma, show Grandma!”
Says Mom, “She wants to show you a green ball.”
“I like your green ball. What color is the ball, Char?”
“CHIMPANZEEEEE”
OK, I definitely see where this is going.
“What’s TeeTee doing?“
I hear him…“My turn! I want Grandma SHARE GRANDMA! MY TURN!”
“Grammy? Show me the transformer again. When are you sending it?”
“First, tell me what did you eat for dinner, T?”
“PIZZA!”
“Was it a kale pizza?”
“NO, Grandma (laughing), you always ask me that.”
“Grammy, look at Char. She wants you to see her jump.”
“JUMPING!”
“Me show Grandma JUMP!”
“That is such a great jump, Char! I’m so proud of you!”
Then T says, “I’m going to jump over you, Char. DON’T MOVE.”
Oh no, this could be a disaster. But it wasn’t. It was a successful jump, but no more of that, I said.
“Where did you go today, Char?”
“CHIMPANZEEE!!!”
I knew they had gone to the park and the beach, but chimpanzee is clearly a favorite new word so there was no way I could disagree with THAT.
This call lasted for about thirty minutes while I was passed back and forth.
Finally, Mom said, “Say goodbye to Grandma, it’s bath time!”
And then from AB 2.0, “I’m going to hit the red button now, Grandma!”
And they’re gone, taking the sun and moon and stars and my heart with them.
Enduring Love
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“.
Sad.
For a Princess-in-Training
How could anyone resist this sparkly butterfly shirt and frilly tutu?
Not me, that’s for sure.
I can’t wait to send this to the one and only Angel Girl 2.0 and watch her twirl.
There’s not much else going on in SoCal on this quiet Sunday.
PS I kinda wish they had this in MY size so I could feel like a princess ballerina, too.
Thorny Love
I found this heart-shaped piece of cactus that had broken off a top-heavy plant. Scarred, thorny, sending a message of love. And pain.
Happy Birthday, Mommy
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.
The Heart of the Matter
At the end of the day, there is nothing but love.
Such an amazing wave pic from Carlsbad. I can’t take credit for the photo, but I have the photographer’s permission to use it.
Here’s how he did it: he was swimming, not sitting on a board; simply in the right place at the right time to reveal a little love.
If you look really hard, you can see another, smaller, heart.
Do you see it?
Daddy’s Girl
Happy Belated Birthday, Daddy!
His birthdate was July 20, and he used to “give” me his birthday so that I could receive presents on that day as well as my own.
I’m not a narcissist, but here it’s all about me. And my daddy, the first one to refer to me as Princess and Rosebud. All I’ve done is combine the two to create my persona.
Nothing much has changed; that’s still about how much of my body gets wet in a pool. Can’t mess with my curls, right?
My contribution for #throwbackthursday
Love is All Around
Even here where a little green worm ate a heart-shaped hole in the leaf of a Cup of Gold vine. How can I possibly be mad at the damage when he left me such a beautiful message?
Right back at you, little guy!
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 