Mom

This week, and it is fortuitous, I would like to thank my Mom. Today is her birthday and I am so happy to have her in my life!

My Mom is the kind of person that everyone just loves due to the fact that she is so giving and sweet. She would do without to make her children happy which frustrates me to no end. She is the one that needs spoiling and to be inundated with gifts and love.
Time is precious for me that I get to spend with her and I thank God every day that she is my Mom and I know my four sisters do also.
God gave her many gifts and one of the stronger ones, besides her big heart, was her ability to just look at a plant and it grows. She plants flowers and a very large garden every year in order to share with us and others. She also complains that WE give HER too much! Imagine!

So thank you Mom from my heart to yours. Others could only dream of having a Mom like you :)
Love always
Dziane (said with a French accent)

Dear Jane ...

Dear Jane,

How many times have we said to each other, "I wish we lived closer together."?  I've enjoyed watching our friendship blossom and grow over the years, from brief emails, to long discussions about photography, all things French, and any blog titled with numbers. Your thoughts on art, films, fashion, and life, really, always get me excited about something new. I've often been touched by your kindness and generosity. And today is no exception.

On receipt of your latest gift, I find myself reflecting on how perfectly you know the right thing at the right time. Thank you for this wonderful graduation and early birthday gift. A Collection a Day is perfection. Thank you!

Love,

Rita

Hello All,

I have been woefully absent these past couple weeks and I sincerely apologise to you all for it. It feels like life gets so busy and time just whips by and when you pick your head up, you find yourself in another month. Phew!

This week ( I am sorry I am a day late) I wish to thank my employers. They quite often go above an beyond what any other employer I have ever known has ever done. We sincerely feel like it is a family working together here with a few spats now and then to make it interesting :) I know that they sincerely care and want us to be as successful as they are and give us a say as to how to make it happen.

So, after 12 years here at Noyle W Johnson, I thank you Tim, Peter and David and hope to be a part of it all for a while to come.

Dear Leann ...

Dear Leann,

You would think that twenty years would soften the edges of our friendship, but it seems it only gets sharper and richer with time. I think we must have recognized each other as worthy friends when we first met. (Who else would befriend someone wearing purple tights and walking her cat on a leash?) Our conversations over the years have been a source of constant challenge, passion, and humor. You insist on seeing me in the best possible light, though I think, while you know my flaws better than anyone, you tend to graciously turn a blind eye. Every time we see each other, you give me new ideas, new inspirations and creative endeavors, and new ways of looking at this strange and wonderful world we live in.

It's a wonder to look back at the events in our lives in which we've supported each other through some of life's real challenges. I have collected enough of your kind words which I've 'put in my back pocket' for when I most need them to last another two lifetimes.

For you, I am eternally grateful. Thank you, my dear, dear friend.

Love,

Rita

My daffodils brilliant and abundant this year, and I am grateful. I planted them many years ago and for awhile they returned each spring. They have been a bit sparse in the past few years. They never seemed to spread and multiple/naturalize as I expected.
This year they are so vibrant and they seem to have multiplied some. There is even one lone daffodil trimuphantly blooming at the edge of the road, really in gravel not even dirt.
So they have been hiding out under the ground, perhaps gathering strength and waiting for conditions to be right in order to bloom again. I'm so happy they are here.
Here's hoping things are blooming in your part of the world!

Renzy

One week ago today, my son, William and I were on our way to visit the college on the top of his list on the north shore of Lake Tahoe in Nevada. It means 3 planes to go from northern Vermont to northern Nevada. Well, it happened that the second layover was involved with what was to develop into a stream of tornados. After 4 hours wait on the tarmac, we figured we’d be camping out in the airport till we got a flight. Long story short- we were offered a flight to LA that evening, with a morning flight to Reno. It didn’t take long to accept the offer, as my sister lives in LA, yes…

Well, one call to my sister, Renzy, Loranne to other than family, and she was picking us up . Renzy already had a room for us, but Indian first, and then a ride to walk the beach a bit. Then time to retire to the room, she’d already been there to make sure all was in place.

It was so refreshing being with Renzy for some face to face real time. This one thing has always been true of her, she is always ready to drop everything, and give you her full attention even when her life is already over booked.

Sometimes when things don’t go as planned, there is a nice surprise.

Thank you Renzy, you’re the best.