a sad day

My friend's mother was buried today.  Things like that don't usually bother me too much, but this was different.  She was a wonderful woman.  She was caring and compassionate, and I don't think I ever heard anyone say a bad word about her.  If she had a point to make, she made it and would try her best to change our minds.  Especially her political views.  Yes, she was a die hard republican and my husband and I have always been very vocal democrats.  We had very lively conversations around election time and even recently with this crazy government shutdown.
Last time I saw her, she re affirmed that she was ready to go.  She was at peace and I think she was systematically saying good bye to all the people she cared for.  We lost her husband less than a year ago, and I think that took a huge toll on her.  I wish her peace, and I will miss her greatly.

Her family gave all the women pink roses on our way into the church.  The story is when she was born, her father had a great devotion to Saint Therese of Lisieux, and therefore named his daughter after the Saint.  She was known as St Therese of the little flower.  She wrote in an autobiography"What matters in life," she wrote, "is not great deeds, but great love."

"My mission will begin after my death," she said. "I will spend my heaven doing good on earth. I will let fall a shower of roses."

A wonderful tribute to a wonderful woman.  

The leaves are changing

Fall.  It is by far my favorite time of the year.  The only problem is that it is a reminder of the cold and snow that is sneaking to our doorstep. I love to see the leaves change color, but then they turn brown,  fall off and leave a huge mess for us to clean up.  We used to have a greyhound who loved the crunchy fall leaves.  We could never figure out if it was the texture or the noise that amused her, but she would bee line to any pile of leaves she could see and walk back and forth in them.  She always seemed incredibly happy as she crunched away!  What a cutie!
We're off tomorrow to the Halloween event at Universal in Orlando.  That seems to have become a rite off passage for fall too.  Let's hope this year it doesn't rain buckets like last year.