Friend Andrea

We lost Andrea this year. She was finally taken
by her illness. She will be so very missed.
I did inherit her dog, not the one pictured here,
but Dexter, and her cat Zoe.
 
This is my dear friend Andrea and dog Max. Andrea and I have a long history together. We were widowed at about the same time and met in a very helpful group. Like me, Andrea's husband was enough friend for her so his loss was everything. I needed a friend too, so we got together. We've had a lot of fun over the years. We celebrate birthdays, holidays, and have gone to plays, garden tours and out to dinner many times. I have never been able to find it in another friend who likes to do all the same fun activities with the same passion as I do. For example this coming spring, again "who do I go Garden Touring with". Hopefully again this year my daughter will have time to go.

Andrea has always loved to travel. I never cared to, but liked seeing her many travel pictures and hearing about her adventures. I have a wonderful picture of her from her trip to Greece one year. It is a lovely profile, she's without makeup because of the heat, and the image is a work of art! I'll get it into the blog eventually.

Since her accident on her last trip we haven't been able to go places outside of her house, but that doesn't stop Andrea! She's one of the busiest people I know. We have luncheon parties together, travel in her family picture books, and she tells me all about the latest art classes she takes on her computer.

Andrea still wants a man in her life, preferably one also on oxygen so that they can be heavy breathers together!!!

COUSIN BARBARA

This is my cousin Billy's wife Barbara. Isn't she beautiful! Now I just need a picture of him and a pic of them both for here and my scrapbook.

I discovered Billy on Ancestry.com when I was researching family history for the genealogy scrapbook I am composing for the boys. I was thrilled! I hadn't seen Billy since we were both young adults and then he didn't remember me too well, yet I had the fondest memories of him when we were very young children.

I am sending Billy all the old family pictures from my possession and in return he is cleaning them up and processing them so that I can put them into the album. I will make him an album too at the same time. Billy and Barbara are big family history buffs so I think that they will enjoy it. I do have some photoshop and other photo software that I want to learn so I can do some work myself, but since the rats ate the speaker wires I don't have audio right now (Oh, that story is for another blog).

MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

Most of you know that I have chronic stomach problems and lately it's become an acute problem. I just had to cancel a birthday luncheon with Andrea in which she was surprising me by inviting our mutual friend Nancy who was bringing a cake! As I am writing this, it is the middle of the night because I have esophageal reflux so bad that it spasms when I lie down. Help is on the way. My doc has prescribed some good meds and I am on the mend. When this all started I was at my daughter's staying the night and woke with severe pain which led us to the ER. I wasn't sure if it was heart or stomach. My foremost thought was "I can't die, I haven't finished the boys ancestry album!!". Which later brought me to wondering what keeps each of us alive?
I would have been truly been 'broken hearted' if I couldn't complete this loving task for my grandsons since I am the only one with all the information. There are very old family pictures in which I am the only one who knows the stories behind these photos. I know that my friend Helen's life accumulating goal is to write her book. This event has led me to the curiousity of wondering what goal, not yet realized experience, or yearning keeps you alive

HERE I AM IN ST. JOE'S E.R.