DIVORCE is final

This is something I don't often write about but it is coming up on the 23 year mark when my divorce was final...It was the saddest season of my life next to my mama's death..  I am going to write a little about this experience without getting bogged down in the emotions of that time and then this will have been put down on paper for all to read..especially for those that have experienced it or know someone that has....so this part of my story is for you..you are not alone....and you will make it through to a better time..

I remember like it was yesterday when I was told by my ex that he  wanted a divorce..I just said NO and thought that was the end of it..can we say naive??   little did I know he meant it and had been planning it for a while..you see, our youngest was soon to be 18 and he thought his responsibility was over..  but what about me?  I had spent my grownup life raising the children and taking care of home...I had no job skills and no experience and no degrees to fall back on...I was terrified...I did not know what I would do...after he walked out on me one Sunday night after we got home from church, I called some friends..they were not surprised..they had seen it coming...QUEEN of denial speaking here.. :-)  in the very next day or so, a sweet friend, Julie, came over and brought her babies and a sack of hamburgers and we sat in my yard on the grass and talked...and I cried...I had no idea what I would do.. I called a lawyer friend of mine and he talked to me and took my case..I had no money...all of the money was in his name and he had taken it all out of the accounts..he filed for divorce 2 days after he left.  I was served the papers by the sheriffs deputy at my house....further humiliation...I did not want this divorce....we went for counseling...it was a joke..he just sat there with the divorce already in the works in the background..I was devastated, scared, and angry...my life was being torn apart against my will...I didn't want to be going through this at all.
.
I had many friends that I would call and they would listen as I cried and talked..they were my absolute support system..I am forever grateful for their putting up with me....I was so afraid of what was happening to me...  I am not innocent in this but it felt like this was done to me..I tried everything I knew to do to talk him out of this divorce...nothing mattered to him except getting away from me...I thought I could change things.   I was wrong...but I don't like the victim role..it doesn't fit me well....so at some point, hope kicked in..well, I actually do remember when it happened....a day or two before Christmas, 1994...I was in my basement on my knees crying my eyes out, with snot streaming onto the floor mixed with my tears....LOUD crying...sobbing....saying what am I going to do????what am I going to do???  I called my counselor and she asked me if I wanted some medication..##*****##!!!!!!!!!   WAKEUP call...I said NO  and I meant it.....from that day forward I very slowly began to come out of this mess I was living in....I realized it was not the end of the world.  I was looking better..had lost 30 lbs in the first month..he left Nov 6, 1994..so this was almost 2 months later...I still sat in a chair and stared at the wall a lot with my dog, Daisy in my lap...the rejection was overpowering and never ending..it seemed like every week I got a letter from his attorney saying I had to do something else...I could not believe this was happening to me and at the same time I had to accept that it was and I had to deal with it..what a rollercoaster..if you are still reading, bless you and thank you.....

At some point, I decided that I was going to be the best divorced woman ever and that I would hold my head up and run through this fire and then help every woman I ever ran into that was going through a divorce to run though this too...I guess I should interject somewhere that I did not get a reason from my ex for why he was doing this..he would just say I wouldn't help him and he felt smothered....everyone else asked me if there was another woman...I always said NO, of course not...another one of those times S.T.U.P.I.D was stamped on my forehead...of course there was another woman for a loooong time.   she is now his wife..but, that is beside the point...

I fought against this thing for almost a year....the first lawyer visit I had, I said he can just have everything.. :-) my sweet ,wise lawyer waited on me for several months to come to my senses and then we talked again...he could NOT have everything.

I got a job in April 1995 and started on a new path for my life..

this verse was so meaningful to me.....He takes away the first in order to establish the second.....
I decided to let ALL of the first be taken away like a clean sweep and start again... I started to discover who I am ..really......I was single for the first time in my life.....I had to learn how to open a checking account and how to take my car to the mechanic, how to pay bills and do it on my own..My daughter was a rock to me during all of this...but I became too dependent on her and had to push her out of the nest so she would not be too screwed up by an overly dependent mama...my son would HUG me and he was strong for me during this...but I knew I had to remain the mama even if I didn't feel like it anymore...

I made it through this whole year of uncertainty and humiliation and growth, did I say GROWTH??  on Labor Day I went to my lawyers office and made the final adjustments to the papers...it was DONE..the next week, my lawyer called me and asked me to come to his office...I remember sitting at my work desk and lowering my head and hearing as plain as day these words.....Go and do what he tells you to do......I got up and went to his office and when I sat down ..he said sign here..I said is there anything I can do to stop this?  He looked at me and said.....EX has already signed the papers, you are divorced, sign here.......
so I DID......
it was finally FINAL....over..  a 22 year marriage gone...now what???

But God always has a plan if we follow Him....I came home and called my pastors wife and she read me this verse from the Bible...

  Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, LET HIM LEAVE......the brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases.....
so, that settled it for me....I let go.....

and

the very next week...I met Bryan Gabriel...the very best thing to ever happen to me...next to Jesus...and my life started to BLOSSOM.......

We dated for  a while before we decided to get married on April 1, 1997. God really did take this awful mess and turn it all for my good..  Best decision of this life was to marry Bryan. I have never doubted that he is just right for me.

I love happy endings, don't you?

Love,
Mona

Reaching a Milestone

Yesterday our view completely changed in our backyard........

A very old oak tree that had dominated the back landscape was taken down because of damage, hollowness, and falling limbs....

Today we celebarte 18 years of marriage....all good years... This man means the world to me...he has allowed and encouraged me to be me...he has made me a better woman and I have grown..so has he. We have been good for each other and that is what marriage is all about..Growing and changing together, not apart... I decided to revisit my words from the 15 year mark....they are still so true...

Fifteen years ago I was busily preparing to run away with my beloved and secretly get married.........

It was a week that changed my life........

I was marrying a man that truly loved me....cherished me.....desired me......and I felt the same way towards him....

We were pretty scared...both of us had been in bad marriages that had ended in divorce and we didn't want to make the same mistakes again....we had talked about a lot of things during our dating and we had come a long way but we were still hurting and broken people.. we decided to become a team and walk out the rest of life TOGETHER...best decision I have ever made besides choosing to say YES to God..but that is another story...this one is about the man God brought into my life and forever changed me and my life...

Little did we know all the battles we would have to fight together...and win.....and all of the life circumstances we would have to overcome...but we had together...and LOVE....and we had God on our side...

As I go about my week, I can't help but remember all of the preparations we were making to get married...no big fanfare this time.....no big fancy parties...just us...and God....we were following Him and it was good....

I am so excited to reach the 15 year mark..for some reason it sounds like a long marriage now...no more newlywed status...I have lots of friends that are reaching the 40 year mark in their marriages...never did I dream that at this age I would be where I am....we have talked about this a lot...that I have been married for a total of 37 years  but the number that is recognized is 15....where do people that have been divorced put all of those years that were spent in a broken marriage?  I think it is a valid question.....a different perspective on our generation......
because if 15 years is the actual number of years I have been married, it means I was not married for quite a long time......so , it is a subject that I think needs to be addressed..especially in a world where more than 50% are divorced......the actual number of years married........mine is 37 years.....22 years to learn what NOT TO DO  and then 15 years to put those lessons into practice.........

I was very young when I first got married and had a lot of learning ahead of me...hopefully I have learned a lesson or two or three......a whole lot of what not to do...I am tired of learning things the hard way..it is much easier for me to yield now to people that know more than I do....I realize I do not know everything!!

But this one thing I DO know, I have been happily married for 15 years to the man of my dreams.....
that kind of man is worth every day of waiting that you do...do NOT settle for an imitation or just any ol' body you can find...it is really important to marry the right person.......


I found this on Pinterest yesterday and it so perfectly sums up my husband......women, PLEASE wait on this man in your life......don't settle for anything less....

I could write all day about divorce and remarriage..it is my passion....but now...

Let the celebrating begin...........

We have reached a MILESTONE!  in just a few days we will mark the actual day..you will have to come back this weekend to read about that part.....

thank you for stopping by today....go out and get you some spring on !!!!

                                                       Mona

Setting a Pretty Table

This one was H.A.R.D for me...   When Kathleen said she wanted to have a wedding china challenge, at first I was excited.....then...reality set in...That lovely wedding china that I got in 1973 was from a marriage that ended in divorce..hmmm....what to do...I most certainly do NOT celebrate that wedding..even thought I still love the china I picked out as a young twenty year old.. I pulled it out weeks ago and set the table, and then..I waited..and waited.  pondering what to do about this challenge. whether to even join in the challenge.

When I married my present husband, we eloped and their was no big wedding..the focus this time was on marriage, not wedding....  There were no trips to the jewelry store to pick out china, crystal, and silver..  No bridal registries, etc...so there is no 'official wedding china'...

I finally decided this morning..what the heck..it is what it is...  I love this china, I do NOT love my first wedding or my first marriage... I do not in any way want to dishonor the man I am married to now.  He is my forever husband .....life threw me a curve ball...
and now, I consider this china SPOILS OF WAR!!

That was a very long introduction to this wedding china post...Thank you Kathleen for making me consider and rethink some issues in my life....wink, wink

That dried rose is there because what once was alive is now dead....but I am choosing to see the beauty even in that dead marriage...this china lives on and we still enjoy the beauty of these plates...
It is Provencal by Royal Doulton and was special ordered from England just for me...nothing like a small town jewelry store to be so personal..

I chose timeless Chantilly by Gorham for my sterling..

The stemware is Antique by Lenox..  I also chose a fine crystal by Wallace but this one matches these plates... Every bride was expected to have a fine china, crystal, and sterling and then the everyday china, crystal, and silver....This was my everyday china and crystal...

Now, here is the twist and turn...the plate on the left is Harrison Rose by Haviland and belonged to my paternal Grandmother.It was what I used as my 'fine china' ..I sometimes regret not choosing the pattern of fine china that the lady who owned the jewelry store talked me out of getting...something about hindsight and 20/20.. LOL  One day I might buy it anyway..but I doubt it...

I have a small collection of cake toppers..the romantic in me...

And these lace bells...ahhh, yes..just thinking about them makes me tear up...  They were handmade by my Grandmother Lewis in 1948 for my parents wedding reception.. Just holding them and knowing how much work and love and artistic effort she put into the decorations for her only son's (my Daddy's) wedding reception.  They had eloped so there was no big wedding but there was a BIG reception later...  I treasure these little bells made from lace and glitter and satin ribbons with a little wooden ball for the clapper...

This is the bride and groom that reminds me the most of me and my husband.  If we ever redo our vows, I will use this one...

Well, I made it to the end of this post and so did you....Thank you for hanging in there...Believe me, I would have written my story differently..all roses and no thorns...but that is not how my life has been..there have been thorns and I am sure there will be more..BUT..I have decided to smell the roses anyway even if there are thorns.. Just because it has been hard at times, I still press on..and on...and on....a lot of life is still left to live.....

Thank you all for being my friends...it means a lot..Knowing you all are there helped me to press on and get this post about wedding china done..even if it is a bittersweet part of my life...
China----good
Wedding----not

Love, Mona


I am joining Kathleen's wedding china challenge
Tablescape Thursday


Come visit....lots of people have gorgeous wedding china to show you and other goodies too...

Revisiting November

I found this blog post written 3 years ago....I am so thankful that my blogging has evolved and improved...and surprised at how some things have NOT changed...I still love November.....

Getting a new camera is probably one of the best things I have done for this blog......enjoy this 'vintage' hidden art of homemaking.......

Wow!  November
November 1, 2010

This month is HUGE around our house.....
my favorite holiday..Thanksgiving happens....and another thing or two happens too...my stepdaughter turns 18, this is the month my divorce started, my parents eloped in 1948 during this month, I decided to marry Bryan during this month....I moved to a little island off the Georgia coast to live for 5 years, and I made a trip to Mississippi to see where Bryan had lived during this month...

falling leaves, life history, warm fires, turkey and dressing, sewing projects..cooler weather..and FROST...bringing an end to the growing season for this year....

yes, I love November..bad things have tried to remove the fondness I have for this month but they have NOT succeeded.
November I will always love you..the very best thing happened to me during your days....I was released form something that was not good for me and was given something that changed my life for the good...

I learned that you have to let go of the bad BEFORE you are given the good...can't hold them both at one time...so at this time of year I am so thankful for my divorce even though I thought it was the end of the world... it was NOT..and I am thankful that a few years later in the very same month, I decided to marry Bryan.....
all in all a VERY GOOD MONTH for this family......

vintage photo..


Thank you for stopping by today..and HAPPY November....I am so glad to get done with all of the hoopla of the last month....Now on to something much more sane...being thankful..

I am very thankful for my Canon Rebel.


Love, Mona

The Remains of the Day

Many of you don't know my story..we have met during this past year and I have had a lot of prettiness in my blog since then.....But.....

Every Labor Day weekend, some remembrance of a Labor Day 19 yrs ago seems to reappear..  Here is a link to that story...anybody touched at all by divorce can identify with me..

DIVORCE is final

This is something I don't often write about but it is coming up on the 15 year mark when my divorce was final...It was the saddest season of my life next to my mama's death..  I am going to write a little about this experience without getting bogged down in the emotions of that time and then this will have been put down on paper for all to read..especially for those that have experienced it or know someone that has....so this part of my story if for you..you are not alone.... to read the rest....   Divorce is Final

As I look at my severely pruned hedge, I can remember my life during the time of my divorce.  I had been severely pruned..back to almost nothing...

But, I know that a better day will come and that this ugly looking hedge will one day be as beautiful as this one...because that is what happened in my own life....

 

So I count it all joy...

and wait...

because I have seen the faithfulness of my God  

and I will continue to see it..

Happy Labor Day Y'all

Thank you so very much for being my friends.

feel free to share this with anybody you know that it can help..

Love,

 Mona

A Time To Speak

Today I ran across this blog post and really thought it was worth reposting today...I like my deep thought self and think I need to go and find her and bring her back to life..I hope you are inspired by this post from the past....

Last night I woke up with these verses running through my mind......


 ¹ There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—
 ² A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
³ A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
⁴ A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
⁵ A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
⁶ A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
⁷ A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.
⁸ A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.

¹¹ He has made everything appropriate in its time.


When I looked at my facebook page this morning, here are two quotes that I saw....one from a friend and one from a stranger.....

"When you decisively cut off and end what must end, you CREATE THE SPACE for NEW things to show up." 

and  this one......

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life." - Winston Churchill

 

I have always thought I was someone that could easily let go of things..well, I am here to tell you..that is not the case...I am beginning to see that there are some good things in my life that I am reluctant to let go of...grin....they are not things that necessarily hurt me...just things that take up space that needs to be occupied by even better things...anybody hearing this?  wink, wink....

I can make a home with the best of them but is that REALLY what I need to be writing about????  it is so easy for me to set a table and to cook a pretty meal or to plant a flower or to pick some vegetables...but is this really what I AM SUPPOSED TO BE DOING???    I am amazed at the most wonderful, beautiful blogs and the creativity and the passion and the anything.you.ever.wanted.to.see.or.do.pictures  that are out there in blogland..we are truly a generation or two or three of amazing women and we are TELLING and showing the world who we are...or are we???

With the divorce rate at more than 50% and all of the children having to be shuffled between hostile parents..where are the voices for these women and children?  where are the blogs that say..I have lived through difficulty and not only survived, but have flourished??and this is how I did it..

and the voices that say--- I have a dysfunctional family and DIFFICULT family members and here is how I learned to be victorious and walk without becoming bitter??

I am one of those voices..I had much rather post pretty pictures, but that is not really what I am all about...I can do pretty.. after all, I went to charm school!!

But even better for me is to write about LIFE..the real kind..the down and dirty kind that really hurts and cries out for someone--anyone--to listen...well, I am listening....and I intend to share my journey so far..how I have overcome...and WHAT I have overcome too...it might step on some toes and it might hurt some feelings but most of all...

IT MIGHT SET SOME PEOPLE FREE!!

and give some hope in a very dark and lonely place....I have been through a LOT...a very much LOT and most of it I never had any idea it would be part of my life......really, on the inside, I am just a young woman wearing a string of pearls and a cashmere sweater and sitting quietly on a church pew somewhere being sweet.....HAHAHA..that was MY PLAN!!  but it is not what I got when I surrendered my life to my God......He got me up off of that pew and made me LIVE!!

I am a divorced and remarried woman...I have a strained relationship with my sister..a mother in law and sister in law that want me GONE!!...a stepdaughter that..well...  I.have lived with lots of money, and with little money....have been accused and rejected..well, you get the picture...my Mama died too young and left a void in my life and my Grandmother died less than a year later..leaving me feeling very alone...and my very own personal JUDGING committee that likes to write ridiculous and hateful and threatening comments on my blog.....

soooooooooooo....

I understand a little about the dark side of life...

buttttttttttttttttttttttttttt...

I am here to tell you that we do NOT have to live underneath all of this..not at all.....we can OVERCOME!!!!!   ALL OF IT!!!!!!  YES...ALL of it.......

we can live 

FREE from the fear of what man can do to me.....

there is real hope..choose life.....

Just like in this picture of my garden..it is apparent that seasons come to an end...as you can see........
I am so thankful for the ending of this season of my life and the BEGINNING of a fresh, NEW one......

This garden did what it was supposed to do and it did it well..  but it is time to move on..pull up the spent flowers and vegetables and  to plant some new ones....some that can withstand cooler temperatures...

It is a new season....let's embrace it......

Letting go is important..even when letting go means losing something that we are comfortable with...there is something new and better that will take it's place......but first..we have to let go...

so happy to have you here today..on a fresh path...

I would love to hear from you and what you think....

 

I am sharing over at Marty's  Inspire Me Tuesday  

and Efforts and Assets

come and visit.... 

The First Time

For the very first time, I am writing my blog from my deck...OUTSIDE!  sitting in the warm sunshine..hearing the birds sing.  and smelling the newness of spring life happening all around me...  I am loving this laptop....

I am meant to be a homemaker..not just a housewife but a homemaker...making a home requires a lot of a woman (or a man)...  It is a full time job and takes creativity and perseverance...among many other things..

As I look around at my life today, it is hard to believe that just a few short years ago I was a broken and hurt and rejected woman going through a divorce....and it felt like it was the end of the world for me.

Some of you have read my story..I wrote about it here and several other posts.

I am so very thankful for where I am now..for the grace that God has shown me..for the restoration...for the ability to love again..and most of all for my husband that loves me like I have never been loved by anyone else...what joy there is in a good marriage....not perfection but good, very, very good...

So, as I sit on my deck in my wonderful yard outside of this home we have built together, I am thankful...
Yes, more than words can convey..I have not forgotten from where I came...and the difficulties of the journey so far.....
But life is good....even when made to start over against my will...It has turned out in my favor.....

These are views from where I sit today on our deck.....no longer empty and forlorn..where there was death and destruction, there is now love and beauty and life..

DON'T EVER GIVE UP!  AND DON'T EVER QUIT!  the only sure way to lose is to stop.....

No matter what comes at you, continue to live the life you are meant to live...

Hope no matter what

On this day, 18 years ago my husband of 21 years walked out on me....I spent the next few weeks doing everything I could to convince him that it was not the right thing to do...  I was not successful in my persuasive words..even though I had what I thought was the BEST argument...not to get a divorce was the supreme goal..

I still do not really know why he chose to divorce me anyway......

It was the darkest day of my life.....Nov 7, 1994......all of the life was sucked out of me and I didn't think I would survive.  without telling my story, you cannot know me....that I am the woman I am today because I went through this time in my life....it is my testimony.....and we overcome by the words of our testimony..so this is a small part of that season.....I think there are many people today feeling the same feelings that I felt on that day..when life threw me a curve ball

It is a sad story of what he did to me during the months that led up to the final divorce decree....I had no money and no job experience and I was over 40....my children were grown and leaving home.  I lived in a rented house and drove an old car....you get the picture....he had not cared about me at all...I asked him over and over not to divorce me...

and that is where I found myself on that life changing day 18 years ago.......

BUT GOD...............

I turned to Him, really turned to Him..no playing church would do....I was dependent on Him for everything and He came through over and over and over....and He transformed me into a strong and overcoming woman....
I regained my confidence...  I understood love and forgiveness and how to fight for something I believed in....even if the outcome was not what I wanted.....so that is where I find myself today...the election was not the outcome I expected or wanted......

BUT...you know what????     I am filled with HOPE because I have seen God take a less than desirable outcome and turn it in my favor before..and I know that is the kind of God I love...  He always takes care of His own....

Today I am happily married to a man that loves me and cares for me...we own a house with acreage..and my car is not old and broken....and  my confidence in who I am is not demeaned every day....

things can turn out a whole lot better than we think they can..sometimes we just have to walk through the fire to get to the place where life is better than before....I have walked through the fire and come out the other side.....

Today I am thankful for my experience of divorce because it caused me to take a long, hard look at who I really was and let the God I love transform me into who He designed me to be..

There is HOPE......no matter how dark it looks to you, there is a light that shines if we keep looking for it.......

Thank you for reading my words.I hope they have imparted hope to you...

Mona

INDIVISIBLE

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.


It is obvious as I look around and listen, we have not taken this pledge seriously as a nation........

in·di·vis·i·ble

adjective

1.not divisible; not separable into parts; incapable of being divided: one nation indivisible.

noun

2.something indivisible.

 

 

 

Maybe, just maybe we need to listen to what we have been pledging  all of our lives .......

 

AND

 

RETURN to our roots......

 

AND

 

maybe, just maybe we could make this divorce rate become ZERO!!!!!

 

Divorce is not just happening in marriages..it is happening between brothers and sisters...children and parents....long term relationships across the board are being affected by this awful reality.....

 

So, the next time you repeat the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag...LISTEN to the words you are saying and MEAN them..... 

Thank you for stopping by this morning...

                  I hope we really do become one nation under God, indivisible.....

                                             and I hope to see you again soon....

                                                                                 Mona

DIVISION

Well, well........division.....it can be a beautiful word in the right context.....

but

it can be a devastating word when it gets in where it does not belong.....

snowdrop clumps

my daylilies

daylily clump

Now that it is gardening season, I am thinking about all of the plants, mainly perennials that need dividing..   When I do this, it is almost like getting plants for free..and one plant can spread into many plants through dividing...one daylily scape can multiply into a whole clump and then division is the natural and necessary step to take..then you have many scapes to plant and then they become clumps and the cycle goes on and on..you get the picture....
This is a good and healthy way to let the word 'division' into your life..when it actually causes multiplication from division.......

Then there is another way that it is a not so good thing to let into your life....as in divorce....when that division happens, it divides what is supposed to stay together always.....it does NOT cause a multiplication of anything good...it causes death....on many levels.....I never thought that I would get to experience divorce and much less that I would gain a little authority to talk about such unmentionable things like divorce...but, lo and behold....I did not choose my life, I am living it (heard that line in a movie last night and liked it)....and my life included divorce...it also includes a second, successful, forever marriage...so beauty can come out of ashes......

I have just been thinking about this word....DIVISION.....

Let's leave it in the garden and get it out of our homes!!!!!!!!

and as a nod to my brilliant children and grandsons....yes, division is good in the math department..  grin, wink....
they are all math prodigies......but I will stick to division in the garden....

What God has joined together, let no man tear apart.....that's a good word....the key is God joining it together...

SO...daylilies and other perennials.....DIVIDE away....

Marriage and healthy relationships.....DIVIDING is detrimental to your health......

                         Love to you all...thank you for reading along with me.......I hope to see you again real soon..

                                                                                 Mona

A DREAM realized...

                  After I took this picture a few days ago, I was reminded  of a dream I had years ago......

For any of you that have been reading my blog for a while, you know how much my home and gardens mean to me....this is another one of those stories about Winterpast...my dream come true....

I dreamed that me and Bryan were hacking our way through a very thick jungle..we were so tired BUT we kept going, we didn't stop...it was slow going at times and there were a lot of tangled vines and thick underbrush...together we leaned into it and whacked away with machettes...All of a sudden, we were on the edge of a clearing and we could see a house....In the dream, I just knew it was our house..we had made it through the thick of things and come to a clearing....HOME!

this picture represents that dream really well..I don't try to stage my photography, it just happens as I take pictures of things I like.....I added some effects to make it look a little aged and liked the way it turned out..... then, I remembered my dream...a long ago dream...now a reality...

It means a lot when we see a dream that is in our heart become a reality in our life....for as long as I can remember, I have liked to play house...even using cuttings from the landscaping to make little gardens in the sand.(Mama said anything I put in the ground would root)  to me it was play and dreaming...about a garden I would one day have of my very own.. and a house I could furnish to suit my taste......my very own house...


It would be a long, long time before that dream would come true...and there were many years that I didn't much hold onto that dream anymore...
When I got divorced I thought that dream was probably pretty much DEAD!..I lived in a rental house and had a broken down car and an empty nest too....and no job..and on and on and on....it was looking mighty bleak for me.....
and then.....

a little spark of hope started to burn....and then I met Bryan......
and the rest is history...well, so far..history..there is still a lot of history to make...

I am so very thankful for our homeplace...it is a reminder to me...don't stop dreaming..no matter what!!  dreams do come true...some of them take a little longer than others....

One week after we signed the contract on this house, my Mama left this earth as a result of an awful car accident..and my Grandmother was in the stages of dementia..so neither of these all important women in my life ever got to share in my realized dream....even in the midst of that saddness.. a desire realized gives hope..

I have no idea why the two things will forever be intwined...My mama's death and buying my dream house...all in the same week....
Probably the only real regret I have in my life, that she never got to come here...she saw pictures and loved it but...

Oh, well...I hadn't planned on going there....
There is a heritage that goes on, daylilies grow on this land...a family tradition.and gardening is in my blood....and so is the making of this house all it can be......

The house in this picture belonged to my great Grandparents....and the angle in this picture reminded of the picture I had taken of my very own house.....looking at a family home through the trees....I see a family legacy here....it might be a stretch for you to see it but I most definitely see it...and live it.....

I am thankful for all of the homemakers in my family line.....I embrace what you left for me....

thank you for reading this little scattering of my thoughts this morning.....

I appreciate you and hope to see you again soon....
I'll be out in the garden enjoying this warm weather...