Darlajune.com

Mother’s Day 2019

May 13, 2019 by darlajune

I have a story to tell about this mug and this flower. You may think I’m kinda’ crazy but, well…..

My youngest son Jonathan gave me this mug one day. I don’t remember if it was for an occasion or for no occasion at all. He often surprised me with gifts ❤️ He was taken from us on July 7th, 2015, at the age of 22 in a horrific automobile accident. I have never been the same since that day.

This past Mother’s Day weekend we traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana, to attend a funeral service for an extended family member and also to spend time with family from California who had flown in for the service.

We decided to stay at a hotel rather than with family for this visit. I REALLY don’t like to drink my coffee from a styrofoam or paper cup. Call me crazy, but it just doesn’t taste the same. Ok, I admit it, I am a “coffee snob”. So I packed this coffee mug with the word MOM on it to use at the hotel.

My morning coffee tasted so much better; maybe it’s psychological but, for whatever reason, it was a huge improvement over the styrofoam cup.

I should also mention that my son Jonathan also liked to give me flowers. In fact, he gave me flowers for Mother’s Day just a couple of months before he left.

We were checking out of the hotel on Sunday morning, Mother’s Day, when the desk clerk said “I see from your mug that you are a Mom, so Happy Mother’s Day!” And he handed me the flower you see in the photo.

As I looked down at that flower I realized that it was because of Jonathan that I had received it. I leaned over and whispered to my husband “Jon is still giving me flowers!”

I may be thought crazy for saying this but I do believe that Jon had something to do with blessing me on this Mother’s Day in 2019 – 4 years after he died. I thank God for allowing it.

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Sorrow & Joy: Mom died, No More Pain for her.

February 10, 2011 by darlajune

It has been a long time since I have posted here. During the last 4 months many things have changed, some sorrowful, some joyful.

My mother, Mary Maupin, passed away on Dec 18th, 2010, after an extended illness. I am happy for her, but sad for me. We have spoken by phone practically every day for many years. I will miss those conversations. I was by her side when she passed. So were my siblings and many of her grandchildren. She knew we were there and that she was loved. We knew that she loved us. That knowledge is a wonderful comfort.

My brother and sister-in-law took me with them for an extended vacation to Florida. We spent the entire month of January in the “Sunshine State”. It was pretty close to being in heaven I think. It was warm,I went swimming, I got a tan. What else could I need?

Thanks to Facebook and my brother, I had a glorious reunion with my good buddy from junior high (Kathy Roberts Alderman) who now lives in Florida (she was smarter than me, obviously, since she escaped the tundra). We had not seen each other for 40 yrs! We had such a wonderful time together, reminiscing and catching up. I stayed with Kathy and her husband, Russ, for a couple of days (not nearly long enough). We laughed and cried, and ate some great food that Russ cooked. I look forward to seeing them again, hopefully next year.

I am back home in the deep freeze that is Central Illinois. It was -5 degrees here this morning. My plan is to stay inside where it is warm as much as possible until the spring thaw – about April or May. I will be quilting and drinking coffee, and blogging about random things.

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Listening to the Thunder Roll & Procrastinating from my Rocking Chair

October 23, 2010 by darlajune

I had all good intentions of getting an early start on doing some cleaning today, then quilting on the queen-sized white on white that I have been working on off & on for oh……about 10 yrs or so.

But it is raining, and thundering. For some reason, when it rains and thunders my butt just can’t seem to get in gear. I think it is psychological……or psychotic? One or the other.

Besides, it is Saturday morning. There’s another good excuse for getting nothing done.

I woke up at 5 AM for no good reason. Watched a little tv, checked on Caleb Brown’s status on Facebook. (2 yr old critically injured in a hiking accident last Saturday). Prayers offered up for him, then back to sleep.

My phone rang around 8. It was Lakeisha (dear friend of the family who helps take care of my mother). She said that Mom was being taken to the hospital and that she (Lakeisha) was going up there to be with her. I wish I were there.

My mom lives 4 1/2 hrs away in Cape Girardeau MO (my hometown). She has been in poor health for some time now and lives in an assisted living facility. My brother, Jack, also lives in Cape so he is also at the hospital with Mom.

I talked to Jack. They are doing some testing on Mom. Now I am waiting to hear further details. If necessary I will pack up and go down there.

In the meantime, I am killing time. I could start something (like cleaning) but I feel like I am glued to this chair, in an altered state, awaiting word on Mom.

I have appointed myself the family “town crier” when it comes to Mom’s condition so I have texted everyone to let them know that she is at the hospital. Many of them are praying for her as they have so many times in the last few years. Mom is 86 (will be 87 on Nov 7th). She has chronic health issues as do most people her age.

Anyway, while I am waiting, I decided to blog. I have had just about all the election talk I can stomach on TV. I do hope that many in the US congress will be heading back home to look for jobs come next month.

On a different subject, I can barely wait to go to a warmer climate in January. We have not had any cold weather here yet but already I am dreading it. I am such a wuss when it comes to snow and ice. I would not miss it one bit if it never snowed again in Illinois. But, hey, so far “global warming” has not progressed far enough here. (Oh no, there’s another political subject.) Since global warming has been debunked by factual revelations in the past year, the terminology has been changed to “climate change”. Whatever it’s called, I need me some warm weather from December until about April.

My brother, Tim, and his wife, Patty, will take me away from this Illinois weather, at least temporarily, in January. We will head for Florida, the Sunshine State, and will stay for an entire month. I look so forward to being with them and to being in a warm climate and missing out on some of that nasty snow and ice. It puts me in the mind of C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe where the white witch curses Narnia with it being “always winter, but never Christmas”. I love the part when the curse is broken and the snow starts to melt and the streams begin to flow after having been frozen for so many years.

Well, I still have not gotten an update on Mom and I am feeling increasingly guilty for sitting here doing nothing so I guess I will go do something. Be back later with an update.

Update: Mom is back at the assisted living. She was given medication and is scheduled to see the doctor on Thursday.

Posted in Family news, Quilting, Travel | Leave a Comment »

Beatrix Potter Baby Quilt (aka “The Royal Quilt”)

March 21, 2009 by darlajune

Last fall my buddy Jill asked me to make a baby quilt and some baby toys for her soon-to-be-born great nephew. It is finished and delivered to the parents. Jill sent me some pics of them receiving the gifts.

Here are some pics:

Steph and Dennis opening quilt

Dennis, Steph, and Aunt Jill

And here are some more pics with details: (click on the pics for a larger image)

And here are some pics of the fabric book and the baby blocks:

I had a ball making this quilt and was so pleased with the finished product. It went with me from Illinois, through Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida and all the way back again. Jill lives in West Virginia so upon completion it was shipped to her. The baby will be living in South Carolina so this quilt has quite a travelling history so far. After they received the quilt I got an email from Jill that blessed my socks off! Here is an excerpt:

“what a stir the “Royal Quit” caused at the baby shower! She said everyone loved it and the toys. She said they finally had to put it away for everyone keep rubbing it and saying how soft and many wanted to just rub it on their face and she wasn’t letting any makeup get on it…LOL..So they passed it around one time and everyone loved the materisl and one older lady she teaches with is a quilter and actually got a measuring tape out of her purse and announced the amount of stitches per inch on average and said “This was done by a real quilter! She knew what she was doing!” So you were the talk of the shower. The older lady had also made material toys before but have never thought of putting bells in the blocks but said they would have them from now on!…So Joy finally took it back to her laundrry room behind her kitchen and when she went in to get coffee refills 2 of the ladies were back there looking at it again!…So I think you can rest assured you actually did make the Royal Quilt!…Joy is buying all the things for the nursey she is setting up in her house after she ges down there in the colors to match the quilt. She is going to be the official baby sitter when Steph goes back to work after her 6 weeks off so she is setting up a complete nursery in her house too and evrything is now going to be done in the quilt colors with a bunny theme!…So ya done good!..Way more than good!..Thank ye, Thank ye, Thank ye!!……Jill”

It was my pleasure, Jill. Can’t wait to see that baby!

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