Lisa's thoughts about Love, Life, Lyme, and Liver disease

Mom would have been proud of us.  We pulled together a Thanksgiving feast that was tasty and delicious.  I must admit, we did a damn good job making her stuffing and gravy dishes without a recipe.  We had an amazing variety of food and everything was just perfect.  Just like Mom would have done. The table settings were a tribute to Mom.  The napkin holders had different pictures of Mom.  We had name card place settings made from small pine cones.  Each place had a lit votive candle.  The centerpiece was sent by Mom's beautiful cousin Marilyn.  It was a table filled with love and created out of love for Mom. Lauren did find one of the pilgrim candles that had never been lit.  So funny.  We only had the boy pilgrim, not sure what happened to the matching girl.   Somebody probably lit her and she melted.  We decided to spare the boy pilgrim.  Some traditions are good to keep, Now it is time for me to be honest. ...

My Heather - 11/19/16 Before I begin, I am blessed that my Mom lived a long life and was able experience being a Grandmother and Great-Grandmother.  She was fortunate to have a long life with her children.  She was married for 62 years to the love of her life.  For that I am grateful. Mom's health had been failing for several years.  It started with several surgeries for joint replacements, back surgery, a heart attack and heart surgeries.  You think you would be prepared for "that day", however I never realized how much it would hurt and how sad I would be. My 5-year-old self wants my Mom to comfort me now.  I want her to call and check on me and tell me that everything will be OK.  Adult Lisa, and I use that term lightly, knows that Mom had an amazing life, she is in a better place, she is no longer in pain, and her vision issues are resolved.  Mom was an avid reader and it was awful to see her not be able to voraciously read several ...

It's obvious that  Mom knew she had a natural talent for curling and cutting my hair when I was a child.  It's only been about 10 days since Mom passed away, but every time I see a picture from my childhood I reflect on the hilarious conversations we used to have about my childhood hair cuts. First, my Mom loved short bangs.  The shorter the better, and the more uneven the more love that was put into the style.   I will admit that I probably was so wiggly during these sessions, that I didn't help with the length or the straightness. When my hair grew longer, she mastered the art of curling.  Now remember, this was in the early 60's and the only way to get hair to stay curled was some "dippity do" green slimy hair gel and pink foam rollers that you slept in all night.  Add in the hair net and you have one HOT look. Obviously, when I woke up, the curlers were removed and the hair wasn't brushed.  Mom seemed to love that "natural" curl...

Here is the eulogy that I wrote and presented at Mom's memorial service.  My Mom would have loved the outpouring of love and support that our family received.  So many people came to pay their respects.   The turnout was incredible, but not surprising.  Mom was loved by so many people.  Lauren's husband, Walter Beaudwin, conducted the service and reflected on the amazing, loving, beautiful and compassionate person that my Mom was.  My sister Lauren sang two of Mom's favorite hymns.  I know my Mom could hear her beautiful voice.  She so loved to hear Lauren sing.  It was a beautiful memorial and tribute to our amazing Mom.   We love you Mom.   Here is my eulogy........ We would like to thank everyone for attending.  We are overwhelmed with grief, but also so blessed to have had such a wonderful Mother, grandmother and of course wife to my amazing Dad. Family was the most important thing to mom.  My...

Heather and my Mom - 1984 - beach bums For those of you that don't know, my Mom fell and broke her hip last week. Because of the blood thinners that she takes, surgery was delayed three days in order for the blood thinners to get out of her system.  In the mean time, they were managing her pain. It has been five days since her surgery and sadly, she is still dealing with sedating effects from the anesthesia and the pain meds.  She also has a blood infection.   Mom is being such a trooper. It just breaks my heart to see her struggle.   She is strong and she has family with her at all times and we know her vast group of friends are praying.   Thank you, Let's go back to 1982.  When Heather was an infant my mother offered to babysit Heather when I returned to work.  It was the most generous gift I have ever received.  It was such a comfort to be able to drop off Heather at my Mom's for the day.  It warmed my hea...