My sweet cousin Kathy that I blogged about here is now in Hospice Care. Several months ago her liver cancer spread to her bones. My poor mom is no longer eating solid foods & having Hospice Care as well. Please wish both of them both comfort & peace. It is a difficult time now.
xoxoxo
Update: I was lucky to see sweet Kathy one more time two days ago to say goodbye. I asked her to be my guardian angel & she accepted. She passed away yesterday. I love you sweet cousin : )
Last week my husband & I had a beautiful day in the garden. Well, "I" was in the garden & he was in his garage close by playing with his garage toys.
The shovel art above is the baby shovel. Poor guy has both eyes on one side of his head.
I have received some of the greatest photos this week. First while doing some genealogy research I found a distant relative on ancestry.com who shared the same great grandparents with me & she had PHOTOS! I'd never seen pics of them before. This is my great grandmother Carmella. We are not sure who the baby is. We think it is a grandchild. Isn't it great. I just love the hat & clothing. Anyone who knows me knows I am into vintage photos in a big way and I don't even have to know the people : )
Here she is older with my great aunt Lenore. Can you tell they are Italian ???
Here is another with Aunt Lenore (center, 2nd from left) & her mustached husband. Her brother, my great uncle Vincent is the little boy in the front right. The rest are her husband's family.
Then ... my cousin found this photo in his garage! I've mentioned before that Billy Martin was my Godfather. This picture was when the Yankees won the 56 World series. I don't know the two gentlemen in the center but here's Dad with Billy & Mickey Mantle, Billy's best friend & roommate. Dad was so excited to go to New York & stay with Billy & Mickey.
Here is a collage I've been working on for my mom. She had 5 sisters. I wanted all of them when they were in their young 20's. I've been trying to obtain a photo of her sister Marie but have only been able to find one when she was small. I may have to settle for this.
... and last but not least is this fun page my cousin's wife included in with the photo.
I've written about my cousin Kathy before. This weekend was her 56th birthday. I remember when she was a little girl she loved horses but unfortunately was allergic to them & had to stay away. For her birthday weekend this year she wanted to go horseback riding on the beach near Bodega Bay. She said "what's the worst thing that can happen?"
You go girl!~ Here she is below with some of "Kathy's Crew". Kathy begins her 4th round of chemo tomorrow. Keep prayers coming.
Kathy has a "to do" list this year. Next is Safari West! Sound like such fun.
Those of you who know me well know that I am hooked on genealogy. I think it goes right along with loving vintage photos. I love getting new information but I love finding a vintage family photo just as much.
Yesterday Shirley & I took my mom to Napa to visit with my dad's sister. We hadn't seen her in ages & it was great to get together again. Shirley was a big help to me with the wheel chair & lifting mom in & out of the car. Thanks Beave!
I asked my Aunt ahead of time to look through her old photos & I that I might want to copy some of thiem. She brought out a few photos I'd never seen before that belong to my grandmother. I had always heard stories about my grandfather's being a driver for Wells Fargo Express in San Francisco around 1910 & then later on being a Deputy Sheriff for Contra Costa County when he lived in El Cerrito. My aunt brought out these gems:
Here is G Pa Charlie on the left with the mustache. I love it! My aunt said this is at the Embarcadero in S. F.
She has had his badge all this time so I quickly snapped a photo. My hubby is retired from law enforcement so this meant a lot to me.
We were also talking about my dad's half sister that I only met a few times when I was small. Mom said this sister had a daughter that was a baseball player. I didn't think too much of it but I googled her today & found out my cousin was THIS baseball player. I remember watching the movie with Gina Davis. Unfortunately cousin Dorothy was over 20 yrs older than me & just passed away this month.
Hubby is on a little trip for a few days so I do not have to cook until Tuesday! I might even leave the bed unmade a day or two : )
Sunday was a Cancer Walk for "Kathy's Crew" with Lance Armstrong in San Jose. Kathy Sullivan is my sweet cousin recently diagnosed with stage IV liver cancer. Her 'crew' has raised almost 3K for cancer research & is still going strong. Kathy is in the center here surrounded by loved ones. One person every minute dies of cancer.
After the walk there was a party in her honor in Orinda. We all love her & want her to stay positive, laugh a lot, keep the faith & hope & FIGHT!! Her chemo treatments are not causing too many side effects. She's on round II now. They are wearing their Kathy's Crew t shirts which are available at cost to support Kathy & her fight.
Kathy & I
Kathy & her hubby Chris
Here is my beautiful Aunt Kathryn who passed away just last month. She was my mom's youngest sister & Kathy's mom. She was in the Waves here. I'm working on a collage of all six sisters for mom's apartment. Then I will tackle one of all 5 brothers!
...
I'm finally going to post some of my one day early surprise b-day pics from June 1st . My husband & I had planned to go out to dinner with two other couples. Shirley & her husband Earl came over in the morning. The guys were going to do some guy stuff & Shirley & I were going to garage sales & visit my mom at Assisted Living.
When we arrived at home around 3:30 Shirley told me in the car that Don & Earl spent all day making something for me for my b-day & he was coming out to blind fold me. He walked me through the house & out the patio door then took the blind fold off. I was shocked & surprised to say the least. I thought maybe a little something extra was up for dinner out but nothing like this. He invited around 30 of my closest friends, neighbors & family. He & Earl worked all day picking food & cleaning our patio furniture in preparation & I had no idea at all.
THE LOOK OF SURPRISE: (If I'd known I would have cleaned the house a little better : )
HUGS & KISSES:
LETS EAT:
PRESENTS & CAKE: What would a party be without gag gifts such as toe spacers, false teeth holders, hemorrhoid cream, long poles to pick things up with, senior vitamins, etc. : )
Someone made a mistake. I can't really be 60??
Thank you Sweet Hubby!
Thank you also to Sneaky Shirley (friend since 10th grade) & Earl (the chef) , Eileen & John (drove all the way from Nevada), George & Liz, Diana (friend since 1st grade) & Buzz (7th grade), Al & Anthony, Uncle Eddie & Carol, Donna & Ed, Enos & Brenda, Bob & Maria, Linda & Dave, Ed & Adele, Ray & Pat, Roni, Linda, Christina & Elizabeth.
