So much to say. . .

So much to say. . . so much to say. . . (As Dave Matthews would say).

The end of July and first of August have already been a whirlwind for the Booy family.
My grandma, mom's mom, Emma Chadwick died on July 24th. She had been really sick for a long time. In and out of the hospital and just really struggling for the last 6 months or so. An amazing woman of 92 years. Despite her weakness and illness her body kept fighting for life. She died surrounded by children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her legacy is one to be told. She is survived by 7 children, 25 grandchildren, 56 great grandchildren and 7 great great grandchildren. Of all of her talents, quilting being one of them, her family might have been the greatest masterpiece. After all of the services, rememberance and laying her body to rest, her children began to go through all of her stuff to sort, organize, remember, laugh and cry. One beautiful picture of life and death will remain with me. After pulling out all of the quilts and throws that she had made over the years, all of her grown children stood out on the painted white porch. There were more than 14 quilts hanging over the railing and her children standing behind to choose the ones that will forever represent "Mom". For me, maybe it was the sun shining just so, or the creation behind it all, the color, the life, a gift of God-- whispering, "all will be okay," combining to give me such a great picture of life, death and all of the in between.

Having a family member die puts life into perspective. All of a sudden you are faced with life's big issues: God, family, love, life, time, death, friends. When life is rolling on it is easy to forget the place of them all.

Following the end to something special, there is always a new beginning to something else. In the Booy family we just celebrated Ian's 2nd birthday, mine and Stefan's 7th wedding anniversary, Arend's (stefan's dad) 65th birthday and coming up on the 16th of August-- Lilly's marriage to Ferdinand.

So, as Ecclesiastes says,

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. . ."