Archive for the ‘A Mother's Legacy’ Category
Every Birthday is a Blessing!
Garden Flowers in June
If my mother was alive, she’d be seventy-three years old. She’s been gone eight years, and I still miss her. The first few years after her death, I would visit her grave site often. Somehow it gave me comfort though I never understood why. I knew she wasn’t there. Perhaps seeing her name spelled out on the granite stone helped me believe it was real.
Though my stops at the cemetery are less frequent these days, the visits I have with my Mom still happen regularly. I hear her voice encouraging me when I’m feeling uncertain – especially when I’m trying to learn something new. Just as she had said in past, “don’t underestimate yourself”, and “you can do it” still help me to believe in my abilities. As I get older I realize just how special it was to hear those words from her.
When my mother was diagnosed with cancer, it felt like our whole family got the disease too. The reality of her prognosis was devastating, but it also became an opportunity for all of us to savor the important things in life, like saying ‘thank you’ and ‘I love you’. Today I send out birthday wishes to the Universe, along with a song that I gave to my Mom years ago to try and say how I felt – and still feel. It’s a Natalie Merchant song called “Kind and Generous”. Listen Now on Grooveshark. Read the lyrics here.
Happy May
As the saying goes, April showers bring May flowers. As I watch the day unfold with sunshine, I am trying to put the list of things I need to do in some type of priority. Of course there are the regulars that always seem to eat up my weekend like house cleaning, groceries and errands. But on this day, I hear the song of my perennials singing, “Ready or not, here I come!” The daffodils are blooming, the bleeding hearts are budding, and there is a new little friend whose name I can’t remember, a gift from my sister in law, blossoming little white flowers above spotted green leaves. The leaves that I neglected to rake last fall are now compacted on the lawn, and the stalks I left for ‘winter interest’ are now just looking dead as the new green plants are emerging underneath them. It sounds like a lot of work, and there is a part of me that wishes I could wrinkle my nose like Samantha from Bewitched and make my gardens perfect. However, once I’m out there, the feeling of nurturing my plants always brings on a sense of peace and satisfaction. So, I think my regular chores can wait. Gathering up my wheelbarrow, shovel, gloves and rake will inevitably bring about more satisfaction as I focus on my connection with Mother Earth.
Pearls
When I was a little girl, I was always drawn to my mother’s jewelry box. It was fun to try on her pretty things and play grown up. My favorite thing to do was open up a purple velvet case, that Mom always kept separate. Inside were what I came to name, her wedding pearls. It was a necklace which had been a gift from my Dad and which Mom wore on her wedding day. Luckily for me, it was my ‘something old’ and my ‘something borrowed’ on my own wedding day. As an adult, my memories are more about peeking in the velvet case, than seeing the necklace on my Mom. As my daughter prepares for her Prom, we have been hunting through an enormous number of stores looking for just the right outfit. As she tried on her dress with the necklace she had planned on wearing, she disappointedly remarked, “I don’t think it looks right”. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it earlier, maybe it was a divine reminder from above…. In any case, I offered for her to wear Grandma’s wedding pearls. It has been a long time since I opened the purple velvet case. The mystique and memories are always vivid. To my delight, they are the perfect compliment to my daughter’s dress, and the glow of happiness at the privilege of wearing them was evident. For me, it’s never about the actual value of an object, but the sentimental value that wraps itself around an object over time. Now my challenge is to make earrings to match!
memories from childhood
Things All Women Need To Know
I really didn’t know anything about ovarian cancer until my mother was diagnosed back in 1998. Her symptoms snuck up on her and by the time she realized there was a problem, she was already in stage three of the disease. Ovarian cancer is typically very difficult to diagnose, and can remain silent for quite some time before causing any symptoms. My sister and I are now quite vigilant about our ‘reproductive’ health, knowing that often this type of cancer is in the genes. Regular visits with our doctor now include additional screening – just in case.
There are a few things all women can do to reduce the risk. According to the Ovarian Cancer Research organization of Canada, taking the birth control pill for five years can reduce the risk by more than 50%. Another little pill we can take that will substantially reduce the risk is vitamin D. The American Journal of Public Health stated that, “The high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, combined with the discovery of increased risks of certain types of cancer in those who are deficient, suggest that vitamin D deficiency may account for several thousand premature deaths from colon, breast, ovarian and other cancers annually.” (link to article)
I’ve been taking vitamin D for a few years now, initially as a way to combat depression, but now I take it for cancer prevention too. I think we all need to be extremely proactive about our health, and this is just one little thing – that may turn out to be a big thing – that I can do for me.
Now what I’d like you to do for ‘you’, is visit the Ovarian Cancer Research website and familiarize yourself with the information available there. There is a feature on their site that allows you to set out a postcard to family and friends to help spread the word about education and prevention of this disease. The photo below is one of their postcards.
A Little Press for Isabel’s Girls
I know Mom would be proud – is proud. Our local newspaper caught up with Sue and I to write a little expose on our jewelry business. If you’d like to read the article, it can be found on Isabel’s website.
Valentine Count Down
It’s hard to believe we’re already in the middle of January. Not that I’m complaining – I’ll be glad to see spring come. I don’t know if we inherited our intolerance for cold from our Mom or Dad, but all my siblings seem to be ‘fair weather’ residents. I’m already dreaming of the smell of melted snow and mud, the familiar song of the robin, and warm sunshine hatching freckles on my nose. Though we’re still a couple of solid months away from these things, we’re less than a month away from Valentine’s Day, and here at Isabel Design, we’re busy making preparations. Sue and I have been collecting precious stones, beads, crystals and charms which will inevitably find their way into our February catalogue. It’s a great way to pass the hours of a cold and snowy winter day, savouring warm thoughts of love for people in our lives.
Family Craft Day
This past weekend our family gathered together to honour a tradition started by Mom many, many years ago. Family craft day is an event not to be missed. If you look around the homes of my siblings, you will note that many of the Christmas decorations gracing the walls, end-tables and trees were made on Craft Day. This year we made wonderful wire ornaments wrapped in the shape of stars, balls, snowmen, angels and more. Beads and stained glass were woven into the design, all with wonderfully unique results.
For all the anticipation and stress of the Christmas season, I always look forward to this special day. Even my nieces and nephews still enjoy this day, and as they venture into their own apartments and start having families of their own, they feel even more compelled to carry this event into their futures. Family activities and gathering spell Christmas to me, and I’m so glad craft day is part of our family’s tradition.
The Inspiration for Isabel Designs
Susan and I are really excited to be working at this project together. Isabel Designs was born one afternoon while we were wire wrapping and beading. It was obvious we were having fun and really connecting so we thought we should do something to keep up the momentum. Anytime Sue and I get together we inevitably talk about Mom, so using her middle name to identify our business seemed appropriate. Now every bead we string and pendant we hang gets wrapped up with her energy. Oh yeh, and for every sale we make on the website, a portion of the sale will be donated to Ovarian Cancer Canada for research and the cure!
If you haven’t visited the website yet, please go to http://www.isabeldesigns.com – and tell your friends to do the same! In the meantime, here’s a little information about our jewelry:
Each piece of jewelry is individually handmade using a combination of materials from both new and renewed sources. Many of our creations are inspired by abandoned vintage jewelry, reclaimed objects from our surroundings and natural beauties of the earth. We hope you like what you see.
Nancy
A Place to Share Stories
We are sisters – Susan and Nancy. We treasure the simple things in life. From the time we were little girls, we were encouraged to practice traditions commonly passed on from mothers to daughters. The most cherished lessons were taught by our Mother’s example. As children, our Mom used to make all our clothes. She baked cookies for our school lunches. At home every meal was an opportunity to celebrate family. We grew up understanding that hard work reaped great rewards, that being thrifty meant we had more to share, and that working with our hands and our heart is a wonderful way to breathe life into the world. Our Mother’s name was Marie Isabel. She lost her battle to ovarian cancer in 2001, but the legacy she left us continues. It is in this spirit that we create for Isabel Designs.
Now we want to hear your story. This blog is intended to be a place where we can all share the legacies that our Mother’s created. If you are carrying on traditions handed down to you from your Mother or Grandmother, we’d like to hear about it. If it’s as simple as following her recipes, or having similar penmanship, tell us why it’s special to you.
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