February 13, 2011
Hi Mom.
We are here with you and I hope you can
hear me. When Bob called this morning to tell me that you had another serious
stroke, we got here as soon as we could. I just keep thinking of what you said
last night about being the “last one” and that it is now your turn, since Dad, his siblings, their spouses and
yours as well have already gone.
And thank you for telling me that you’ve been blessed with a wonderful life. Although you always did say that, now I know that it had special meaning when you told me last night.
We will keep our promise and spread your ashes with Dad’s. We’ll wait till
spring, your favorite season, when you and Dad would have been
celebrating your birthdays and your 70th wedding anniversary.
And thank you for telling me that you’ve been blessed with a wonderful life. Although you always did say that, now I know that it had special meaning when you told me last night.
We will keep our promise and spread your ashes with Dad’s. We’ll wait till
spring, your favorite season, when you and Dad would have been
celebrating your birthdays and your 70th wedding anniversary.
Bob B. found a wonderful poem and adapted
it just for us. He’ll read it when we’re all together.
Not a day goes by that we don’t think of
you and Dad with a smile. Thank you for sharing your lives the way you did, for
your gentle and steadfast nurturing, for your seemingly infinite patience, for
the experiences you provided
for us and for so clearly and lovingly demonstrating what it meant to live a
life well-lived.
I hope you are fine. I know you are.
Lots of love,
Ann
Note to new readers: If this is your first visit, please begin here:
http://annbkennedy.blogspot.com/p/understanding-blog_28.html
Note to new readers: If this is your first visit, please begin here:
http://annbkennedy.blogspot.com/p/understanding-blog_28.html
Ann, I'll only say, "thank you kindly."
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you kindly! We have really enjoyed your comments and shared memories and have appreciated the time you took to think about the letters and align our family activities, etc. to yours. That's been so much fun! Thanks again.
DeleteLaurent, thank you for re-sending your comment.
ReplyDeleteBittersweet is the word !
I understand very well how painful it is to say goodbye to your grandparents and parents a second time. Closing your blog certainly brings back the same sad feelings as you went through a long time ago. And besides, you shall have to face a vacuum after such a demanding work has kept you busy for such a long time.
Bittersweet also applies to us, the readers, now that we realize that your blog will soon come to an end.
I may say that my everyday reading of your daily pages late at night (time lag) has become part of my life. I shall miss those “daily news” of a friendly family which has always shown a high sense of goodness and positive values.
And bittersweet again when I think that you may disappear from my screen after you have put your pen down.
I hope that we shall always have in store a lot of interesting stories that we can share.
Laurent, first of all, thank you for your gracious thoughts and for your loyalty to the blog. I am very appreciative.
DeleteThe "bittersweetness" of ending the blog is certainly in part a function of saying goodbye to readers, to the routine it provided (which was good for someone like me who always has many irons in the fire) and to the project itself. Of course, we never stop missing our parents and grandparents and so there is no such thing as a final goodbye, nor would I want there to be such a thing. It feels good to have completed what I set out to do 4 years ago. I think I have learned more from doing the blog than from all of the formal education I have had over the years! And while it has been a great journey, it's time to move on to something else.
Thank you for your encouragement, for reading the letters, and for being so organized that you can find what I can't!
Ann, what a beautiful job you have done with this post and with the entire blog. There is so much heart in this project---I think it's terrific, and that your mom and dad would be so proud to see it. And the good news is that it is something we can go back and revisit again and again. Now it's time for some well-earned R&R! Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteHi Patrick! Thanks so very much for the nice thoughts and yes, time for some R&R and perhaps I can catch up with your fantastic Buckeye Muse and explore in depth those awesome literary profiles you so beautifully create. The new format is wonderful! Thanks again and I'll see you at http://www.buckeyemuse.com/
Delete"Bitter Sweet" is the only way to describe the ending of your blog. Having completed your mammoth task I thought the way you chose to end it was really touching and quite poignant.
ReplyDeleteI came to your blog quite late along it's journey but found the little insights into your family very comforting and felt quite privileged to be sharing them. I read them all, laughed at certain points, commented from time to time and I shall miss your posts.
David.
David, thank you for such a kind comment. I feel honored that you read the letters and took them to heart.
DeleteAlthough I have read the last page, I shall leave the book open...
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess you never know when a new chapter might appear:-) Thank you.
DeleteI'm sorry to see the blog come to an end, though I know creating it has been a lot of hard work over the past 4 1/2 years. Your posts brought back so many memories, including quite a few that I forgot years ago. I was so fortunate to marry into such a great family. As I get older, I appreciate my blessings ever more. Thank you, Annie!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Bob K
Awww thanks, and thanks for being here among the stacks of letters:-)
ReplyDeleteThese final posts have all touched me and pulled, intensely, on my heartstrings, but perhaps none more than this. It has been a profound honour to be with you from the early days of this blog's life and to share in your family history, getting to know you and your closest relatives through the decades care of the amazing letters that were exchanged.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the incredible amount of time and energy that you put into creating this blog and sharing those letters. For the lives that I'm certain you've touched, for the prosperity that you've further created within your own family, and for the friendship that we formed in the process.
You are an incredible person, dear Ann, and I'm truly grateful that the web led us to meet and that I've been able to enjoy your blog for many years now. I will never forget the experience of being a part of your family, so to speak, through these beautiful posts.
♥ Jessica
Hi Jessica. What a pleasure to hear from you! And what a kind and thoughtful thing to read at the end of this project. But I should be the one thanking you for your encouragement from the very beginning! Had it not been for Chronically Vintage and your generous willingness to help in every way, I might never have been able to complete the task. Yours was the first blog I ever encountered and it taught me a lot. With my new found extra time now, I hope I can be a more regular participant in the life of C.V. It sure is a lot of fun! Thanks again for joining the family through Mom's letters. I, too, am grateful.
ReplyDeleteAll I can honestly say is thank you Ann for sharing so much of your family's journey. It has truly been a pleasure reading them all :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Merryl. Among the blessings I have encountered in having done the blog, I certainly count you! Thanks for all the encouragement throughout the project:-)
DeleteDearest Ann,
ReplyDeleteAs you know I had computer troubles for the month of July, and I shamefully admit when I was able to return I put off coming here. I did not want to experience the melancholy of your mother's passing. I had grown to be so fond of her, and you, through these letters and our little talks together.
Well, today I toughened up and read your words. It did to me what I new it would, and I am writing through tear blurred eyes that just won't stop leaking.
I think today I finally understand why your blog has been so enthralling for me all this time. We were born about the same time, you and I. Things your mother said echoed of words I had heard first hand from my own sweet mom. Her letters and your comments on them stirred memories forgotten,(or tucked away?) and you let me feel the joy of a happy youth again. In all this good feeling I so hesitated about the final chapter because I never had the chance to say goodbye to mine...
Thank you for this last entry, for resharing again today in the community as it drew me here knowing I needed to take this all in. Not having had the chance to see her in the last 10 years of her life, nor being able to attend her funeral (she was living near my brother some 1,000 miles away in Arizona and when she passed Fred was quite near death himself with his heart.) kept something in me from facing the fact that she was gone.
I think your words and hers have helped me in this way. I may be writing through tears right now, but they are cathartic tears in every sense of the word.
Thank you Bonnie, thank you Ann.
I am at somewhat of a loss for the right words to express what I feel as I read this comment, but I'll try. The gratitude I feel for the opportunity to have been with my parents in the end is of course enormous, but so is the pain I feel for you in not having had the chance to say goodbye to your mom as you might have hoped. That these letters may have given something to your heart is precious knowledge for me, and I thank you deeply. Bonnie was everybody's "Mom", your's too.
ReplyDelete"Bonnie was everybody's "Mom"" No truer words were ever spoken.
ReplyDeleteThinking of Grandmommy as I voted today. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, a lot of us were doing the same:-)
ReplyDeleteIt is never too late to say how sorry I am for the loss of your mother and father. I have enjoyed reading your mother's letters over the years and have come to this blog entry about her. It is still terribly sad for me, although I knew she was gone the day I started reading. I just wanted to tell you how much your mother's letters about her Japan experiences have meant to me. I was born the year she was there so it feels good to know she enjoyed the people and the place I call my second home. Thank you for sharing her life with me/us and I wish you well! Tess
ReplyDeleteTess, thank you for this lovely comment. Believe me it was made my day! Having finished the blog means that I can finally read the letters at my leisure and reflect on the precious memories of my parents. I felt very challenged in figuring out how to bring it all to a close and I am grateful for your kind appreciation. The Japan experiences were very significant to our family as well. I’m glad you feel a connection! Best wishes and thank you again,
DeleteAnn