An Unexpected Tragedy

When A Pet Dies

When a pet dies,

that special place in our heart feels so empty...

But we realize, as time passes,

that animals have a way of teaching us about loving,

about loyalty, joy, and friendship...

And whatever we’ve shared in their presence

can never really be lost.

Anonymous

This morning Mugsy passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. I'm still in shock and disbelief. I feel so numb and empty. The tears are still flowing at the loss of my sweet little Mugsy. I don't know what happened. He was perfectly fine yesterday. After he ate his breakfast this morning, he got sick. He went to lay down and he started breathing hard and was limp. Mike immediately took him to the Vet. When he got there, the vet gave Mugsy oxygen and took an x-ray. Mike called me and said things didn't look good and that I should come right away. When I got to the clinic, I went right to Mugsy and saw him take his last breath. I couldn't believe what was happening. The x-ray showed his spleen was huge. The vet feels that Mugsy either had an aneurysm in his spleen, or his spleen had somehow twisted on itself. He was such a good dog. He had the most beautiful eyes, and when he looked at me, it felt as if he was looking right into my soul. I'm having a very hard time dealing with this. I am going to miss my faithful little friend so much!

I'm in the Jewelry-Making Mode

"Creativity can be

described

as letting go

of certainties."

- Gail Sheehy

For the past month, I've been in the 'jewelry-making mode.' I spent a lot of time working on a neckpiece for "Iron Wire Jewelry." I am pleased with how it turned out, and had it professionally photographed several weeks ago.

I have also been making earrings and charms. This pair of earrings features my husband and myself when we were each only a few years old. See...I had the curly 'birds nest' hair way back when I was little, too!

I had accumulated a bunch of tobacco tags over the past several years, because I thought they were cool-looking. I unearthed them in a box in my studio, and decided to make some of them into charms.

I think they're going to end up being a necklace and earrings. My friend, Kim Nugent, has been coming over each Friday for 'artist play dates.' I showed her how to make jewelry like the sandwich earrings I have posted. She is now 'hooked,' so I ordered her some metal and I also have a bench pin set up for her on the other side of my workbench. We've got dueling saws going while we're busy chatting away. It's really nice to have someone to create art with. She's coming over again next Friday.

Yesterday, the weather finally was warm!!! It was so nice to be able to be outside without a jacket on. Unfortunately, today is supposed to be raining and in the 40's again. Ugh!!!

A Pendant to Honor My Dad

I wanted to make a piece of jewelry that would be a tribute to my dad's fighting in the Pacific Theater for four years during World War II. I thought a 'booklace' would be wonderful way to capture some of the things he told me. The cover of the piece was done 'ala Thomas Mann style.' I used bronze metal for it, and etched a portion of a letter that he had written to my mom while he was in the service.

There are quite a few pages to the piece. The front side of each page shows a picture of him - one with his machine gun, one with a native from New Guinea who helped him, one when he was home with his parents, one of his purple heart, etc. On the reverse side of each page, I wrote little things that he told me about the war (which wasn't much, because he seldom spoke about it). The pages are sandwiched between mica sheets.

At his funeral, members of a local VFW post gave him full military rights. They gave him a 21 gun salute, and presented the flag to my sister. The bullet shell used in the piece was one of the bullets shot off at his funeral. I found the text, "the thunder of artillery" in an antique book. I thought it would be fitting on the bullet.


After seven times of putting it together and then taking it all apart again because I wasn't satified with the piece, I was pleased with the end result. The book has 9 pages in it, and I have it on a long leather cord. I think my dad would've liked it.

A Painful Loss

"Slowly, gradually, he detached himself,

breathing less and less,

fainter and fainter;

then was he off and free,

like a dry leaf from the tree,

floating up and away."

- Helen Nearing

On Friday evening, I suffered a huge loss. The death of my father, George. My dad was 91 years old, and would have celebrated his 92nd birthday on May 2. Although his health was declining over the past several months, his mind was still sharp. He was such a source of knowledge about the history and people from the area where we lived, and loved to share his stories with relatives and friends. He never missed church, and was always the first one there each Sunday morning. He was proud to have served in the Army during WWII, where he fought for 4 years in the Pacific Theater. He also raised beautiful African Violets and loved to frequent his favorite diner, the Waldo Cafe, where he would visit with his friends and family on a regular basis.

Everyone in the community knew my dad well, and everyone liked him and always spoke very highly of him. He had a wonderful, dry sense of humor which he could ever-so-casually interject into a conversation with a straight face.

He was surrounded by his family when he peacefully passed away. I am so grateful that I had such wonderful, loving parents. My dad loved the old singing group, "The Ink Spots," so the music playing on my blog is in his honor.

I love you, dad, and I'm really going to miss you.