Love – French Ethereal

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Life is tough and having to say you’re sorry is probably

one of the toughest things we go through at times.

Like death the hurt we cause others can

often be unbearable…

I had to say I’m sorry to my friend this week whom I

drove up to visit and stay at her home above Santa Barbara.

I didn’t think to ask when I took pictures in her home of

her beautiful surroundings and her garden.

I was caught up in the etherealness of it all and the vignettes

I was seeing and so this is my public apology.

The photographs taken showed her home and garden

in some of its best light but in my happiness to just be there

and visiting with her I forgot and didn’t even think about it.

At her previous home I had often taken pictures for myself.

Happy memories of a beautifully curated all white home where

worries and day to day stresses fade away.

But I had asked.

I apologize to you also because I jumped the gun in

talking about her home.

I’m sorry.

Time heals and hopefully it will soon.

Kathy is one of my best friends and though you have

never met her ~ you do in every vignette I create.

Have a blessed day,

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Life is ~ Becoming Different After 50

October 26, 2017June 21, 2019 French Ethereal

Becoming more…

Sounds like something odd to write as one who is over 50 years young now, but it is true for me and I feel that perhaps it is true for many of my friends who are also past their Big Birthdays…

Design Bloggers Conference, Beverly Hills, California ~ March 2017 — Listening to Earl Spencer’s talk about his family’s estate and the collaboration of reproducing some of his family’s furnishings to share with the public.

Today’s post is a fun fall link-up with ladies who are all over 50 and things they’d like to share that they’ve learned along the way. You’ll find everyone’s links down below and I hope you’ll visit them all! My blog post started one way and ended up completely different but it’s from the heart…

Happy Birthday, Charlie

Since this is a “birthday week” of sorts perhaps it’s best to go back in time and share a bit from my past. It’s not often I do this as after so many years it was time to let all that go, but it is what was the major shaping factor in my life.

My first fiancé was in a bicycle-vs-auto accident when he was 20 years and 5 months old, training for a triathlon and heading to work as a lifeguard in the Placerville Parks and Recreation District in 1983, and I was a very much in-love 21 years old. I worked two jobs then while going to American River Junior College in Sacramento, California, one as a lifeguard in that same Parks and Rec. Dept. and as a waitress at a Swensen’s Ice Cream Factory. I was beyond devastated when the doctor told his parents and I that Charlie had died, and made it “beyond” only by the grace of God and with the love and caring of the friends we had in a bicycling/running group we were involved with and with love from my family, my best friends, and his family.

But because of this tragedy, I developed an odd fear of failure and a fear of success, anxiety and just lack of feeling that their was no real purpose for my life. What was the point??? I couldn’t see that I would live many, many years into the future and that I would need college for my family’s well being. I take no medicine but I read a lot and apply what I’ve learned, do my own stress relief when needed, and try to eat well and talk things out. 🙂

I continued college though I tacked a different path and studied sports medicine for three years enjoying the program very much. Eventually though, fear of not being able to help student athletes on the field was a factor in my not finishing the program, plus then I married a man whom I fell in-love with. He was loving, stable and a good grounding force in my life ~ my Charles, now 30-plus years strong. I was tired of school and needed a break, so I did. I never really went back though I have taken two accounting and a beginning Int. Design course at UC San Diego.

Our fall garden here in 2017.

The Interior Design certificate program was disbanding at UCSD right then in California in 1994-1995, due to the beginning of the home improvement era with home owners becoming their own designers, so looking into getting a certificate wasn’t an option going forward there. No other schools taught Interior Design that were even close to our home, the closest was the school in Pasadena. My second child, our son, was 5 months old when I took that course… I got an A-.

Sparks to a different life

I had twin loves in college: and 1) studying Physical Education and the idea of teaching PE to children and being an Athletic Trainer was a great goal; women were new in the field in 1985. I was excited to be involved with athletes and loved helping people.

2) Part of me also loved my sewing and Home Economics, so I studied a little bit of this, too, before Charlie’s accident ~ a Creative Clothing and Textiles class taught by a woman who sewed every gorgeous bucleé, silk or linen suit she ever wore to our class, plus a sewing class I had in high school. I took another Home Ec class at that junior college that taught me about organizing the kitchen, but I don’t remember its name. Sparks to a different life…

When I’m not writing

When I’m not getting much writing done, it’s that I’m not good enough part of me kicking in, it’s not that I don’t have things to write about. Putting myself out here to write, share sewing ideas and the like is really tough for me, but I love it!

An English teacher in high school told us once that we would have seven different careers over the course of our lifetime and I’m right on track with that. I also feel that everything you do culminates in a job or jobs that you’ll love best. Those hard times are what shape you, moulding you into the best person that you can be. God uses these hard times for good, though we can never see it as we are going through it… wish we could!

Here’s how it all came around for me: If I hadn’t left UC Santa Cruz to come home to go to a junior college, I wouldn’t have been there when Charlie died. If Charlie hadn’t died, I wouldn’t have married Charles and had two wonderful children who are amazing and are doing amazing things in their lives. If I hadn’t switched to the Physical Education program at CSU Sacramento {my third college, if you are keeping count}, I wouldn’t have known how to help the students in Mrs. Jones’ Special Ed class when we went out to Adaptive PE everyday. If I hadn’t been blessed with a deaf brother, my mother wouldn’t have taught Special Ed and been on the forefront of creating the programs we have today, nor would I have become involved with so many wonderful people with mental and physical challenges. If a friend hadn’t taken a chance and switched from being a Special Ed aide (like myself) and become an airline flight attendant, she wouldn’t have given myself and several others the courage to pursue our own dreams. If my husband hadn’t been out of work this last time for two years, we wouldn’t have moved to Texas and have been blessed with his great job and more new friends where there is a real hometown feeling… and there are open prairies and farms to help me dream and think, to rebuild our lives, to persevere… {hence the opening photograph last fall}

One of the beautiful showrooms I was blessed to visit during High Point Market recently.

Be the Sparkle…

I don’t know where all this is going but I know I’m going to go with it, keep moving forward, keep working towards a dream… When I was 21 and wondering What’s the point?? What I didn’t know then is that Living Life is the Point. I no longer hurt for my old friend but I still think of him around his birthday each year. I’m grateful for the lessons learned and since turning 50 five years ago, I’m grateful to be doing something I love.

Caring about people, doing something you love for work, and giving of yourself and knowing God are important to one’s happiness… This is something I thought of a couple of weeks ago, something I thought I’d share with you; my own quote:

“Life is the love we people our lives with.”

~ Barbara Chapman ~

2017

🙂

A little of what I’ve learned in living a half-century and remembering those we’ve loved.

Linking with
Fantastic Fifty ~ The Boondocks Blog
Friday at the Firehouse ~ A Fireman’s Wife

Here are my blogging friends’
Fantastic Fifty posts, Enjoy!
🙂

An InLinkz Link-up

https://static.inlinkz.com/cs2.js

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Sunday Sentiments, Easter 2017 ~ I’ll Make You Fishers of Men…

April 16, 2017June 21, 2019 French Ethereal

A favorite garden statue I had in my Big House front garden bed.

Easter Sunday ~ He is Risen!

Risen indeed.

🙂

Since this is the Lord’s special day
I was thinking of how we are to be
fishers of men…

I’m not a good fisherman
in fact
I’ve hardly fished for real fish at all
though I love to eat fish!
And I’m a regular fraidy~cat when it comes
to talking to people about Jesus
which really makes no sense at all because
Jesus Himself is not scary.
😉

Beautiful lily pads down at my parents’ 1/2 acre pond at their final home in Connecticut ~ roughly 2010.

But a lot of people are afraid of Jesus
and mostly because of us
Christians who say something wrong
or do something
that shows our weaknesses and
shows us as hypocritical.
I’m sorry for that, for my wrong actions
and sayings.

But Jesus isn’t hypocritical ~ He did what He
set out to do:
to save a world from themselves.
To save us from our sins by taking our place
dying on a cross.
The ultimate sacrifice for an imperfect world ~
Grace and Peace.

All we have to do is believe on Him
ask for forgiveness for what we’ve done
and follow His lead
and
read God’s Word
so we know how to live:
Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth
B.I.B.L.E

It is that simple.

Plain truths on a Sunday celebrating the great

Love

He has for us.

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16 New King James Version (NKJV)

An Easter lily for you! ~ from the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens.

Sharing with
Dishing It Digging It ~ Rustic and Refined
Inspire Me Monday ~ Create with Joy
Create Link Inspire ~
Monday Social

Happy Easter!

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Good Friday Sentiments ~ A Supper of Love

April 14, 2017June 21, 2019 French Ethereal

I’m excited as I love this time of year

remembering the good things that were done for us

on a cross a little over 2000 years ago…

In the early evening, before it was night

and just before

Jesus was taken into custody

{and betrayed by Judas Iscariot}

the Lord had a final supper

with the apostles…

“I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

17After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you.18For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Luke 22:15-18 NIV

He broke the bread, gave thanks to God,

then said:

“This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19

“Little Robin Red Breast”… a story told that the robin got its red breast because it went up to Jesus on the cross to look upon Him and pierced itself on the crown of thorns upon His head. From a book I received as a child from the Catholic church we attended on base in Massachusetts, 1967-1970.

Later on, Roman soldiers arrested

Jesus and took him to see

Pilot and Herod.

Jesus was not found guilty of anything

but Pilot put it before the people to decide

whom to let free.

They chose another…

The Rose ~ representing the crown of thorns. See? The rose weeps and bows its head because it knows…

So why Jesus?

Yeshua* in the Hebrew and translated

in English as Joshua {Jesus is the transliteration

of the Greek Iesous} was led away

to the cross.

God sent his son

to be the propitiation

or substitute

taking our place and dying our final death

for us as we are separated from God

because

of our sin.

Jesus is the bridge ~

the go between.

Our bodies are to

die once but not a

second time in Hell ~ because we are Believers.

As followers of Christ Jesus.

“The Way” ~ the original name

which came to be

“Christian.”

Meaning…

“Christ-like.”

*https://www.gotquestions.org/Yeshua-Jesus.html

The child who grew to be the Son of Man ~ three years of travel and teaching.
33 years lived.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8

Friend Kathy’s lovely table set for a Christmas tea. She too loves Jesus!

He did it because He loves us.

Enjoy your Good Friday,

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Jouyeaux Anniversaire ~ A Love Story

September 18, 2016June 21, 2019 French Ethereal

~ September 19th ~
is a wonderful day for me as
I remember my parents ~

This would have been my parents

57th wedding anniversary…

My parents spent 38 wonderful years

together

Both passed in their 66th years seven years apart.

Both from cancer of differing types ~ Dad due to

melanoma

Mom from lung cancer.

I miss them both ever so much…

A photo collage at our Big Home ~ Mom and Dad’s wedding portrait along with a smaller round snapshot
centered in the middle. On this hallway wall, I’ve displayed our wedding portrait {upper left} along with a card I gave
Charles long ago {lower left} as well as my father’s parents’ wedding portrait.

But, I didn’t come here to cry

to make you cry,

I came to share a love story…

🙂

Gene and Ginny met while working

at a small coffee shop

in Boston, Massachusetts

while both were attending college.

Dad was in between services

with the

United States Army {enlisted, 1950’s}

and the

United States Air Force {as an officer}.

He was going to the University of Massachusetts studying

a double major in Business and I want to say Law,

but I’m not really sure about the second.

Gene had spent three years with the Army

down in Panama

traveling and performing with the

Army band there ~

playing the piano and french horn.

He moonlighted playing in a jazz band on

Saturday nights at a club there ~ eventually

being offered

a job with Lester Lanin

and his band and orchestra.

Gene didn’t take the position, though,

instead signing up with the Air Force,

becoming a JAG ~

short for Judge Advocate General ~

in other words: a solicitor, a lawyer.

Gene and Ginny married in September of 1959.

They married during the golden era of Hollywood

around the time when Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco

and

Jacqueline Bouvier married the future President John F. Kennedy

when they were the toast of the nation.

My mother was tall and lithe ~ she looked beautiful in

high school photos in her yearbooks

wearing the proverbial 1950’s skirts and

Peter Pan~collared button~up shirts with a

cashmere sweater over top.

When she and my father went out

she was stunningly beautiful in

the evening gowns she wore, and

her hair was stylishly short like Jackie Kennedy’s.

She was studying English

at Boston College

and

played on BC’s basketball team

{something I found out years later}.

Later on she switched majors to
Special Education

after my deaf brother was born.

Their first posting with the United States Air Force

was to Ohio, my home state.

My deaf brother Frank and I were born

there in Ohio.
On a side note
the rubella vaccine was brand new back then
and I was vaccinated and so was Mom
however
babies in-vitro couldn’t be
so
that is how Frank became deaf
as a result of rubella floating around
from neighbors who unfortunately
had the disease.

And happily we love Frank
just as he is!
🙂

I used the Canon to photograph this Polaroid I took when I was about 11 ~ our second house on Oahu, Hawaii.
My three brothers ~ Frank, Gene and Tom ~ about 1972. I shared in my last post about these
Koala Bears.

Many other wonderful places came thereafter:

Colorado {where my brother Gene was born},

Massachusetts {where my youngest brother Tom was born},

then four fantastic beach~filled years in Hawaii

and finally

moving to sunny California

where my father retired after 20 years

of military service.

My parents were best friends
who loved opera and listening to
Boston Pops performances
on t.v. specials in the late 1970s and through the 80’s.
The Mikado, Gilbert and Sullivan records, and many other
operas and musicals
were the stuff my brothers and I grew up
listening to every weekend.
My father and mother performed in a number of plays together
when we lived in Hawaii and Dad was always a
lead character in one play or another
all the way up until his passing.

They had a shared love of watching football
basketball and hockey on t.v.
The San Francisco 49ers were their favorite football team
though they were happy to watch any football game.

Sometimes, Dad would play his rendition of the
Happy Birthday song for Mom and us kids
whenever it was our birthdays.
His arthritis was bad so he rarely played piano anymore
as he got older so it was a treat when he would play.
I was always in awe of his ability
to read so many notes
on a page of sheet music at one time!

Frank standing out front of Mom and Dad’s home as it was in 2008 or so.

Connecticut was their final home place
and they found a home with 12 acres and a pond.
Every February they held a skating party
inviting friends and family
serving
New England clam chowder
or Daddy’s famous
spaghetti and meatballs made with
cooked chicken and Scottish banger sausages
to the hungry crowd.

A view through the kitchen window screen down to the half~acre pond.

Their plan on Dad’s retirement
was to sell this home
buy a motorhome coach and travel down to
Tennessee and the Carolinas
looking for a retirement home
and
visiting my aunt and uncle on Hilton Head
as well as traveling the country.
This was not to be…
{Funny, as now we are living that life… more or less.}
😉

All good Love stories must come to an end
but Love never really ends
does it?

I’d love it if you’d share
your parents’ love story
or your own
or a family member’s love story
with me and
with the others who read
this little ole blog!
Please leave a comment and
tell us your story.

Blessings to you on this lovely
warm Sunday morning,
🙂

Sharing with
Create Link Inspire ~ The Crafty Blogstalker
Wow Us Wednesdays ~ Savvy Southern Style
Feathered Nest Fridays ~ French Country Cottage

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please sign up through any or all of these sites: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook
as well as on Blogger in the sidebar. Thank you!!!

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A Special Day, A Beautiful Wedding!

July 28, 2016June 21, 2019 French Ethereal

July 16, 2016

Our son Peter and his bride Justine’s

special day…

And even though this shot was out of focus

It’s my favorite!!!

The bride with her new sister~in~law, our daughter Amy

Rain held off until after the wedding had begun with

only a few sprinkles while the final professional wedding shots

were being taken.

All of the flowers were custom~made by the

mother of the bride, and the bridesmaids and family

helped create and set up the table decorations.

Everything was specially planned

with much meaning

behind all of the decor.

Love this picture of Justine, my new daughter!

Flower girl’s headpiece was also crafted

by the mother of the bride.

She is the bride’s youngest cousin and a spitting~image

of the bride at that age!

The bridesmaids’ bouquets

Every wedding is such a personal expression

of the love between the newly married couple

and between each of the family members…

Small remembrances mean so much

and add so much to the occasion.

The bride and groom had a

Memory Glass

made sharing favorite photographs of

grandparents who have passed ~ just lovely

and very touching…

My parents can just be seen to the right in the candlelit memory glass, above right. Guest signatures are written on small
wooden hearts, along with happy wishes for the new couple, then slipped down between the frame’s two sheets of glass.

In place of a Guest Book the couple found

an idea online to create a picture frame where guests who

attended the wedding and reception sign hearts instead!

Brilliant!!!

The bridal bouquet with her recently~passed grandfather’s photo tucked inside.

Table decor is always fun to create for a wedding and of course the couple’s lavender and green colors

featured throughout

the day…

Elegance and simplicity
made the day a happy one
for the bride and groom.

The four~tiered wedding cake
draped in rosemary and lavender branches
tied together and topped with a
“branding iron~style initials and heart”
wrapped up the day in style!

Who could ask for a lovelier day?

He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD. ~ Proverbs 18:22

Blessings to
our happy couple,
Love Mom

Sharing with
Feathered Nest Friday ~ French Country Cottage

Tag: Love

Sunday Sentiments ~ Having to Say I’m Sorry

Like this:

Life is ~ Becoming Different After 50

Happy Birthday, Charlie

Sparks to a different life

When I’m not writing

Be the Sparkle…

Like this:

Sunday Sentiments, Easter 2017 ~ I’ll Make You Fishers of Men…

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Like this:

Good Friday Sentiments ~ A Supper of Love

So why Jesus?

Like this:

Jouyeaux Anniversaire ~ A Love Story

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A Special Day, A Beautiful Wedding!

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Happy Birthday, Charlie

Sparks to a different life

When I’m not writing

Be the Sparkle…

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16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

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So why Jesus?

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