Please Hold…

I’m having a hard time staying on task lately. I think my brain shut off this week after Garage Galleries. Hopefully I can get back on track this weekend and have some posts ready next week. Do you have any plans for the holiday (in the US) weekend? We have no plans! It’s very exciting. Right now, Naoto is at a brewery tour with some work friends, so Presley and I have the apartment to ourselves. I’ve repotted my fall mums and a new spider plant and I feel like I’ve accomplished more in an hour than I did all last week. I’m going to try to take some fresh photos of my cards for my website and finish cleaning up around here. Things are out of hand since I decided to clean out a closet AND prepare for Garage Galleries in the same week. Big mistake.

Anyway, I hope you have a good weekend!

P.S. I know Bitmoji are passé but Naoto and I really love using them when we text each other and this one was very on point for my non-productive week.

Grandpa & Sharon

This was a picture of my Grandpa and Sharon on their wedding day, October 25, 1958. When I got engaged, Sharon told me that she and Grandpa had a simple ceremony in the home of their minister when they got married. No fancy dress, no fancy reception… Their marriage lasted for fifty-six years, so clearly the formula worked.

My grandpa passed away almost four years ago (I wrote about him here,) and his wife Sharon passed away this January. She wrote a longer message than usual in our Christmas card last December, and she signed it ‘Grandma Sharon’ for the first time ever. (We always just called her “Sharon,” not “Grandma” because, I guess, she was our step-grandma.) I wondered at the time if that card would be our final correspondence.

We never had a memorial service for my grandpa, so my mom’s half-brother gathered everyone to celebrate both of their lives last month. We saw family we haven’t seen in forever and had a meal in a church basement after the simple graveside service. It was nice to send them off together, especially since they were together for so long. (Though I will say, it was weird to have a memorial service so long after my grandpa’s passing…)

I took this picture from their things because of the way my grandpa is looking at Sharon. I think I’m going to frame it and finally hang up some of my old family pictures. It’s a nice reminder that we don’t always need things to be over-the-top, or perfectly planned, or fancy. Sometimes, it’s just nice to spend time with the ones we love.

It’s Been Too Quiet…

I didn’t mean to take a long blog break–September has been a little crazy, at least crazy for me since I’m a little too used to the Slow Life. I’m hoping to take some time today and work on some blog posts to catch you up on everything.

11 Years

Today is our 11th anniversary. I was looking through our wedding album to find another picture to share with you (I feel like I have shared so many over the years!) and this one made me smile. Our first dance was “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo’ole. Naoto made me laugh the whole time. Eleven years later, he’s still making me laugh.

xo.

Sending Sympathy

I’ve already sent five sympathy cards this year.

For a long time, I was really good about intending to send a sympathy card and then not following through with those good intentions. Then two weeks (or two months) after I’d learned of someone’s passing, I’d feel horrible that I never sent a card. My solution finally came to me a few years ago when I decided that I should always have a few sympathy cards on hand.

I know some people may disagree with this plan. They may say that they want to choose a personal card for the bereaved. They may say that they want to choose one that’s for the specific loss of a mother, or a sister, or a husband. I get that, and sometimes I feel that way too and I try to make it priority to get something special if I think it’s needed. But for the most part, I think the most important piece of a sympathy card is in the personal message that you write inside.

For awhile, I just used a package I bought at a card shop, but the cards felt a little bit cheap and flimsy. Now I always have two packages of Saturn Press cards on hand. Both are letterpressed on thick, gorgeous white paper with a deckled edge. The Love for Stars version has a comforting deep blue sky and yellow stars on it and a quote, “I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.” The Forest version simply shows a peaceful forest with a sunset. Both have simple messages inside and offer plenty of room for a personal note. I find the images and the heft of the cardstock very comforting and I hope my recipients feel the same way. At $19.90 for a box of ten, these are an amazing value for the quality, plus there’s that added bonus of supporting independent artists and the beautiful old art of letterpress. (I always shop for my Saturn Press cards through Cronin Cards. They offer a nice selection and free shipping did not sponsor this post.)

Another sympathy card that I really love, but isn’t offered in a box (in spite of my pleas) is this one by Positively Green. It was always my go-to when I was buying cards one-by-one. I love the simple image of the bird on the bench, and I especially love the James Joyce quote, “They lived and laughed and loved and left.” On the inside it says, “And the world will never be the same.” Isn’t that beautiful?

I’d love to hear if you have any favorite sympathy cards or stories about a special card you’ve received.

Along the same topic, this post about mourning stationery from the Letter Writers Alliance is very interesting!

 

After the Break

Remember me?

I feel like a blog abandoner. I never meant to ignore this space for so long. But I also hate those blog posts filled with reasons* for not writing, so let’s just begin again, shall we?

Did you see the Super Blood Moon Eclipse last Sunday? The weather was so crisp and cool here that night. I went out on the balcony and watched the moon go into hiding and watched it reappear some time later. Naoto came out to join me for the reappearance and we listened to moon-themed music (particularly Total Eclipse of the Heart, Bad Moon Rising, and Moonshadow.) I didn’t get any amazing pictures, but enough to capture the moment and enjoy the moment.

We had a really good end-of-summer and now it is decidedly fall…scarves and boots are out, Presley is more cuddly, and I’m decorating for Halloween. Hopefully I can get back into a good blogging routine—I have a few recipes, a few cocktails, and a little bit more about Japan and the end of our summer to share. And mail! I’m participating in 31 Postcards in 31 Days again and I haven’t sent a single one! And I’ve received some really fun mail this summer that I want to share with you, too!

I’ll be back on Wednesday with a Renegade Chicago report. See you then!

*Main reason: I’ve been trying to eat all of my tomatoes.

Kimberly AH Three Years Later

And here’s that tree again.

I know it seems weird to talk about, but I think about this blog a lot. It’s not a job for me, but it is a place that gives me a bit of a routine, sometimes a bit of a purpose and, most importantly, a bit of connection with like-minded people. I feel like “the blogging landscape” has changed so much since I started reading Angry Chicken back in 2007. I loved reading blogs back then, probably because they were new to me, but also because people were just sharing. Sharing their art works, sharing their homes, sharing their ideas, sharing their recipes… Sometimes it feels a little self-indulgent to share, but it also feels wonderful to find other people who have the same interests in mail or cocktails or Japan or gardening. So, thank you again for sharing this space with me, for visiting and commenting and reaching out the old-fashioned way.

Cheers to another year “at home“!

Grandpa Litton

On Friday, my grandfather passed away. He was eighty-three. When we went to see him earlier this month, we knew the time was limited. The touristy excursions were a chance for my dad and I to give my mom some time alone with him. Since Hamilton is such a small town, it was easy to pop in and out throughout the day.

My mom’s parents were divorced when she was very young. Grandpa remarried and lived in Hamilton for his entire life after the divorce. He and Sharon were married for more than fifty years, so clearly he found the perfect fit on his second go ’round with marriage.

We only saw him once or twice a year when he would visit us and when we would make the annual summer trip to Hamilton. At the end of each visit, he would always tear up when we all said goodbye. He was quiet and kind-hearted and until the end, always seemed so strong and full of life.

Grandpa was in a lot of pain while we were there, so it is somewhat comforting to know his suffering is over. Sharon was by his side during the last hours. A peaceful ending to a long life.

The picture at the top is from the 1950s: my grandpa after one of his baseball games holding my mom (left) and Aunt Connie (right) with my grandma in the background.

The second picture is my grandpa & Sharon, most likely from the 1960s.

Kimberly AH Two Years Later

I know I said I’d only be posting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for now, but I couldn’t resist a tiny celebration post for two years of Kimberly AH.

I started this blog two years ago today and apparently I document this tree branch from my balcony to celebrate. (See last year’s post here.) Thank you for another year of reading!

National Handwriting Day

Oh Mr. Dior, I couldn’t disagree more…