Sunflower House, Planted

It is in the ground, and growing. And now as we wait, water, and sing -- we are dreaming of our magical Sunflower House and the grand adventures that we hope it holds for late summer.

We sang our sweet song to the little sprouts, and we carefully nestled them each into their new spots of earth outside. Round one of our green and tender shoots are off to a sporting start lining the walls of the proposed circular house.

We marked off the plan in a sunny patch of grass. Next, we staked out the grass map with small sticks, [to double as future sunflower supports] we decidedly positioned all the young plants, and then we officially started growing our outdoor living dream house.

Dave charted out the spiral entry [phase 2 of planting] and the Craunlets marched around the interior of their circular house to make sure it would be plenty spacious for both of them to enjoy. Round two of our sprouts should hit the soil sometime next week--finishing up the entryway path--also filling in the outer walls with several lower-growing and more decorative varieties.

We are busy editing some sweet footage of the Craunlets serenading their sunflower plants; hopefully that will be up just after the holiday.

re:casting

Today we celebrate Bella's best corrective cast to date, and in the surprising color selection of green. Though I must admit, it just sings the sweetest of songs against her beautifully fair complexion!

Her progress continues to amaze us, and her medical team puts her near the top of their list in patient success; which we do not take lightly. Watching this curve slowly straighten has made even greater and entirely unmeasurable changes within our hearts.

For readers not as familiar with this long relationship we have with the cast, you can catch up here, and here while we continue our celebrations on this Bella day!

Gratis, For this I am So Thankful IV

It is so good to roll through these weekly. I am finding myself shifting my focus throughout the week, taking note of all the goodness, and posturing my heart in thanks. Again, I am overwhelmed with gratitude, that our life though bumpy and broken is marked with so much sweetness. So much to raise up in thanks.

31. Espresso every morning with my husband. I crawl out of bed to an already awake house [I love my husband] and I climb up onto the kitchen counter and set out our cups and saucers, side-by-side. Next, I measure out the raw sugar with our shiny worn demitasse spoons; mine sweet and his sweeter, and this is the lovely slow start of each of our mornings.


32. Ceramic cups without handles, and locally made.

33. Truth. And how it always sets you free. And never changes.

34. Wee mini little baked things. Like our vanilla bean chocolate chip scone nibbles that we drenched in a thin and glassy smooth glaze.

35. A growing green fund, and more importantly the growing relationship with our neighbor Mary--our street's longest resident--who is living well into her nineties.

36. Shiny red bicycles and tricycles outfitted with ching-chinger bell's; and the miles of family walk + bike rides they have endured and still promise to provide.


37. Children that think only of their momma when they spot beautiful flowers out in the wild. And then they pick them, and chase back to me hurriedly, and smiling, to put them into water to enjoy indoors.


38. The kitchen shelf. Charming changing display of knickknackery, and the lovely little and lemon bud vase that is reserved [and always ready] entirely for #37.


39. Summer temperatures, and sunshine. And the relentless growing green in that garden.

40. Bubbles. With giggly kids on the front sidewalk. And the contagious good times of simply living it out with our community.

Trying to be Supportive

Our Sunflower Sprouts are mad-dashing upward, and as a result are getting a little wobbly on their long legs. I understand they are quite delicate things until they grow into their stalks, so we strategized some solutions this morning, for something that would gently remind them more up and less over.

Since we tucked the seeds into their little paper pots, the Craunlets and I have serenaded them every morning with the wake up, little shoots coaxing lullaby. Asking them to sprout, to rise up, and to grow strong. To our delight, the magic is working. Perhaps, all too well.

Today, many roots are creeping out of the bottoms of their water-softened and even soggy paper pots and stretching for more soil to gain them both more food as well as better support. Our first leaves are weighing down their tender long stems, and they are collectively begging for bigger earth.

I mentioned to the Dave this morning, that we should plant them, and that we might tackle that project this afternoon. I was thinking something extravagant; a small circle, placed asymmetrically in our back yard. I had even bought a can of grass spray paint to mark it all out using a stake and a string. That's when the Dave proposed a labyrinth entry might be more fun. Might be more dramatic. Might better teeter us on the very perimeter of insanity. Here is his plan...chasing parallel to the side fence, and wrapping inward on itself, a small spiral of majestic sunflowers with a hide-away center space. Simple, surely...can't wait to see him with the shovel.


So, in wait for our digger to come home from work, the Craunlets and I made good use of this morning's art time, by creating lovely and gently loose supports for our wobbly shoots in the meantime. Mostly wanting to better ensure their big transition from the sill to the wide open soil outdoors, we used a variety of our sunniest hues of tapes, for our beautiful sunflower stem pick-me-up's.


They are looking pretty bright already; I sure hope they grow into the magical little space that we are all dreaming of now.

A Saturday to Myself

I enjoyed a rare thing today. An entirely self-indulgent Saturday. I went to a local gallery + art center this morning and I picked up several sweet ceramic cups -- for a steal, my friends! Beautiful pottery for sale; the functional lovely and affordable kind--a most brilliant combination, if you ask me!

After a wee break back at home, I went out for coffee, and finished my current good read. Then I meandered across the street for some shopping at a gem of a local fair trade boutique. I picked up a horribly cute skirt -- I KNOW -- a skirt??! Who would have ever thought? It seems like the essence of summer and playfulness. I specifically picked it up with our Chicago trip in mind. Our anniversary downtown, while the Grand Dubs watch the Craunlets. All the way in August, but I am already getting antsy!
Next up, the hair salon. I got my color updated [terribly over due] and a fresh twirly cut to re-energize those curly locks I love so much. Which reminds me of the print above, from here, as I am always excited to see what my hairdresser will surprise me with. This hair salon is a fabulous indulgence; a several hour experience that includes hand and arm massage, aromatherapy hair wash, neck + scalp massage, and a glass of wine. Um yeah. It is truly terrific.

Feeling all alive and recharged from a full and fun day of play, I met the family at a yummy local food spot for some dinner, followed up with their famous malts + milkshakes ordered to-go for the longish ride home.

Sweet Saturday, I have enjoyed you immeasurably.

Gradually Getting Louder, a Book

I realized this morning that it was Friday, and that my book of the week had still gone uncreated. Wanting to fulfill my promise, or goal rather, of making a book each week--I really didn't want to propose such a thing, and then fail immediately in the very first week of the challenge. How utterly pathetic that life so easily swallows me up. How quick it is, I find myself too busy with everything, slowly ratcheting the technically optional towards the very bottom of my to-do list. Why is rest and pleasure always the less urgent?

So, convicted by my own internal guilt-complexes and pressures, I immediately started rummaging through my over-stuffed art closet, looking for my piled-high collection of handmade mock books. Thinking that they would surely get me started, and further get me moving in the right direction of at least selecting my project.

Well, apparently those two boxes are buried far beyond the time that I was willing to give it, but I came upon instead my most treasured simple pamphlet stitched book that I created a good long time ago, while in Florence Italy actually. And ironically, it is a book that I have long wanted to recreate. Perfect. I have found my challenge for this week, and the structure is plenty simple to pull off with little time.

I trimmed down an unfinished print from another daunting pile, and sized this new book slightly larger than its prototype. One of my favorite aspects of this book was its translucent inner sheets. The original was a single-signature of buff-colored bumwad, or trace paper. Soft and worn into the shape of our hands and pockets, and layered with grocery + errand lists already shopped and crossed off. The layers palimpsest to tell the story of our sweet process of integrating into Florence, and learning Italian; in language, culture and diet. I also fashioned and affixed small envelopes to the insides of the front and back covers. They were made of a beautifully beige-tinted glassine that I purchased in a local art shop; one to hold the essential cart coin, and the other to hold useful conversions, etc.


Mostly, I think I wanted to recreate the nostalgia. I want to live again in a way where we are eating almost entirely fresh and local food. Where we shop unhurried at the appropriate places for dairy, produce, bread...and buy for a few days at a time. It seems like such a time of exhilarating freedom.

I decided that the interior pages of my new book would be vellum. The white better matched the rag paper of the print, but offered the same visibility between pages. I decided to collage a few scraps of ephemera paper to the front, and grabbed a random strip of sheet music--a remnant from a previous collage. It just felt right. And it fit exactly where I envisioned. After it was securely and permanently affixed, I decided to see what poco cresc. even meant.


Ironically, and very much to my delight, it is abbreviated Italian, and means: gradually get louder. A perfect fit. The nagging of this finished and full book, a beautiful fragment marking many meals and memories of a season long past, to be made anew again. And in some ways re-implemented. And further, the pages that given time and use will gradually get louder themselves via layer.

How beautifully serendipitous. I am continually charmed by the sweetly timed intervals of this life, and the fascinations and parallels of music and sounds within my making process.

Happy Weekend, all!

It.is.Shining.Today.

The Sun. It must have heard my most desperate plea. It shines so bright today. And the green is so intense; that magic balance of Spring. The orchestration of all that wondrous growth.

After serenading our wee sunflower sprouts yesterday morning, encouraging them to wake up from their slumber, the Craunlets and I were delighted to find them today-- already rising towards the sun. Surely they are as excited as we are about the pause in the rains and the return of the sun.

Must.Have.Sunshine.

Sunday I was expectantly excited about the rain. We nestled each of our tomato plants into their small allocations of earth, exactly on the 15th--which I understand to be the ideal target date for success in this region, learned this season through passed down familial legacy on the in-law side. Way to hit the mark Team. I was swelling with pride and accomplishment. I might have even muttered a bring it on out loud and upward at the increasing clouds. And the rains began. And I was so glad. One might have even caught me on Monday morning still in my pajamas doing a celebratory rain dance with the Craunlets.

But the aching cold, the lingering gray, the relentless loud pelting of the heavy wet drops. The overly cute umbrellas, the rain jackets, the matching rubber boots. All of the glorious puddles on the short path from porch to car. Today's unusually grumpy and ornery nap-skipping Craunlets. The ones that kicked their feet free of their heavy boots on the long way home. Those small socked feet. The mighty soaking from standing outside the car whilst helping each of them out of their buckles and back into their boots, then navigating through each of the puddles, to return back inside...

I must have some sunshine.

Generally, I can bake it off. Simply whip up a quick comfort food and console myself. Fill our home with warming cheer. So we nibbled up all of our coffee cake that Bella and I labored over in the morning. Crunchy cinnamon and coconut struesel stacked tall atop a spongy moist cake--still the glum lingered.

Wanting some sunshine inside today, I dreamed in yellow.

And I researched some new toys that would certainly provide a pick-me-up, and look great in the kitchen...


or the office...

but would certainly bring cheer. And more importantly, sunshine.

If I only had a MacBook and a Mixer.

Window shopping/Image credits: yellow case, here, and the sister lemon keyboard skin here. citrus yellow stand mixer here. You are my sunshine print here.

Gratis, For this I am So Thankful III

Overwhelmed by all the good again this week. I am finding it so refreshing and refocusing to pause and make a list--write it all down--and simply acknowledge the sweet kisses of the every day in this lifetime...

21. Summer Vacation!!! I LOVE the academic calendar. And that it has once again come to an end this year!

22. Alone time with my growing girlie.

23. Baking a yummy coffee cake with Bella, during #22. Relaxing about the kitchen mess, and just loving her interest and pleasure in helping. Passing on that legacy of baking love. Inherited from my mama, and from her mama....and you get the idea. How simply sweet.

24. The lovely sound of cooing mourning doves. They serenade most of my afternoons.

25. Sunflower sprouts [already!!] and the potential sunflower house in our back garden. Dreamy.

26. Afternoon coffees in artist-made ceramic mugs, where I find myself gloriously alone in the quiet.

27. Sharing the bounty of our garden, even ahead of our hopeful harvest season. The abundance is already wonderfully overwhelming.

28. Ticklish Craunlets, and their "teaser" Daddy, as they call him. I love our raucous wrestling time on the rug in the evenings as we are winding down our days.

29. Compiling a tall stack of luxurious soft fabrics for a new baby that we look forward to meeting in August. Soon to be sewn into simple, but extravagant also, blankets, and burpers and the like...

30. Yellow. What a gloriously great color. Anything in yellow makes me so happy. And it also makes me want these for all of the puddles we have right now.


Surely I need them? I am also thinking my studio space upstairs should be pretty much all gray and yellow. What a cheery space to get all my work done; certainly yellow is the next best thing to sunshine.

Priorities

I couldn't agree more.

Artist is Katie Daisy, and her site is chock full of her fabulously charming illustrations. I would love a print of the one above to hang on our back door. The one we throw open wide to get out to our gardens, and run.

Green Weekend

We managed to spend the majority of our weekend's awake hours outside. Enjoying sunny blue skies and chilly warm temperatures, we tended our gardens and got the precious last of our vegetables into the earth.

The Craunlets were fabulously terrific helpers.

Though they easily got distracted with other fun things.


Next weekend we are working on framed lids for the tops of each of the raised beds, as we are fighting with a few ornery squirrels on a couple of occasions now. That, and when those black walnuts begin to fall from the three huge trees that our gardens are situated below, we are going to want/need the protection.


And that green just keeps on growing, which is so exciting...and somewhat unbelievable at the same time. Tiny little seeds, packed with all of the information that they need to become large food plants. And so far, all of our planting has gone swimmingly on schedule, and every time just ahead of some Spring rain, followed by sun.


Next up, planning + planting the sunflower house. I have dreamed of growing one for a couple seasons now, and I think it would be the most magical of additions to the back yard gardens for the Craunlets and all of our outdoor play.

Weekending

Last night, the Craunlets laid down in the freshly shorn lawn. Dreaming upward together; side-by-side pointing and sharing life.

These moments of magical kinship melt my heart. Watching them become the sweetest of dear friends is the loveliest of melodies in the whole wide world. Click to see more of their play right here.

Happy Weekend all, may it be one marked with laughter, play and much rest.

Book-a-Week

I have been on a bit of a renewed book-making spree around here. It all started with a present that I put together for my sister's recent birthday. A little wool felt sewing notions book. A simple pamphlet structure, with a tab + button closure.

The next week I found myself folding up remnants of scrap paper into little single-signature books, and dreaming up a new purse jotter--still to be made. Most recently, I attended a workshop hosted by Art Books Cleveland, and created a button hole book in a couple quick hours of an evening [see item #14 here].


These occasions have reminded me how in a couple of hours, and generally with materials already on-hand, I know I could make a small stack of books this summer. So, fashioned a bit after a traditional summer reading program, I have decided to make a book each week, as a personal challenge. Not all of them will be new forms, but I do hope to tackle some of the structures still on my I've always wanted to try list. I plan to share my progress in pictures right here with you all, so be on the look out!

What is Growing

This picture of bella blowing wishes from a dandelion stopped my heart the other day. So beautiful against our newest blooms. So many similarities they share, and both of them enjoying the sun of that sweet spring afternoon.

Tall on her legs. And independent.
Brilliantly blooming. Royal, commanding.
Full of sweet joy and promise. And unexpected surprises.
Contagious and blossoming laughter. Larger than life.
Magic and mystery.
Incomparable beauty.

This is what is growing in our garden right now. Purple Allium, making its very first debut, and rising tall in the back row of our raised bed.

Gratis, For this I am So Thankful II

And here we are at Tuesday again, so soon. And once again, taking a brief moment to slow down, I find that the list of things to be thankful for easily springs onto the page...

11. It is so good to have a set of small cloth napkins for lunch and snacks. I am so glad that I gave up on worrying about not being a brilliant sewer, and realized that I could just do it. I have the skill. I can sew. It might not always be fabulous, but it is functional. And that is beautiful. And using them is a double-daily delight.

12. The boxhead. A new animal invented by the Craunlets, created by sharing an empty toy bin over their heads. Their collaborative gaming adventures bring me so much joy. For those of you that have never seen one in the wild, boxheads are four-legged creatures whose main sound is laughter.

13. 3rd and 4th graders, and the Special Ed classes in these grades, at the Cleveland Public School that I am currently working in. Their self portraits have given them incredible voices, and they leave me speechless and amazed.

14. I made a new book last night. Art Book Cleveland hosted a workshop for the Buttonhole Structure. I spent the evening with several adults, in a library, and made a gorgeous new book. with paper and string. HEAVEN.

15. Rainbow anything. But specifically at this moment my new book. Its visible signature covers are a spectrum of color. and I LOVE looking at it. Holding it in my hands, and opening its pages. I have decided to go on a personal book-a-week challenge. I must keep making.

16. Playgroup that exists as much or more for the Moms as is does for the Babes. And it involves BRUNCH. Weekly fellowship and food. YEP. And our babes playing with one another. The natural variations from week-to-week that work schedules, appointments, and sick kids generously provide, creates an ever-changing and flexible attendance, but always fun to come together.

17. My amazing husband who all the time shows his appreciation, and who especially put together a perfectly sweet Mother's Day enlisting and organizing the Craunlets. I'm talking buttermilk biscuits + jam butters for breakfast, a hand-stitched art-filled Mother's Day bunting, and a picnic dinner in our backyard by our growing gardens. Not to mention the pages and pages of Craunlet art featuring my portrait, hearts and the gigantic letters: M O M.

18. The garden. And all of its Oh-my-goodness green sprouts. And this finally-raining with chilly Spring temperatures that seem to be perfectly timed with our planting.

19. Leanne, or more commonly known as Nonny around here. She loves my children both tenderly and passionately like her own sweet sweet Poppy. She plays and cares for them one full day each week [and this week TWO!!] so I can get out and teach. And I LOVE her magic, and her impact in their lives, and our household + family.

20. White chocolate bars laced with macaroon Coconut. Many of you know that I am addicted. I admit it. It's love, what can I say? I must ALWAYS have a bar in my bag. For a little nibble; a quick moment for myself amidst all the crazy. Crazy that admittedly, I LOVE.

And for all of this, and more to come...I am so thankful. Happy Tuesday to you.

Happy Mother's Day

I had the luxury of sleeping in this morning, and waking up to the Craunlets climbing into my bed with their Happy Mother's Day greetings and big hugs. They helped Daddy make some fabulously yummy buttermilk biscuits, and some tasty sweet jam butters, and were crawling up to let me know that breakfast was warm and ready, as was my waiting cup of espresso.

Happy Mother's Day. May yours be equally sweet.

Bella's Art, and the Gigantic

Yesterday afternoon I came home to this:


Bella's sweet drawing of me in the garden, all gigantic, in jeans with my crazy wack-a-doo hair.

The Sun Shines, and We Must be Outside

The Craunlets are quickly becoming experts at bubbles. It seems we find ourselves practicing every time the sun shines.

See more of their mad bubble skills right here.

Creamsicle Kingdom, Everything but the Art

We have been slowly-but-surely whittling away at all the details, and Bella's room is finally nearing 100% at long last...how do our winter projects drag on so long around here?

All that remains on our once quite long to-do list for Bella's room overhaul is to frame and hang the remaining few pieces art. [and to finish that elephant...]

Thank you [a million times] to the fabulously sewing-talented Grand Dubs for assisting with the creation of the duvet cover pictured above [and the second duvet cover, not pictured, which features the Eastern Continents]. The moment I saw this gigantic atlas tapestry, I knew it was the most magical thing to tie together our Creamsicle Kingdom.


Get a glimpse at our slow-but-steady progress in Isabella's growing-up room here, here, and here.

Eating, Convenient and Cleveland

We don't eat out very frequently, and we have been pretty ardent in training the Craunlets in what junk food is, and how our bodies would not thrive if that was our only consumption. We have intentionally exposed their palates to a variety of fresh and local flavors. Mostly homemade. In fact, neither of them have consumed a single spoonful of baby food from a jar. It seemed insane to feed them radically different than we fed ourselves. As a result they prefer real food, and are more vocal than I can believe at times about their preferences.

I was laughing to myself the other day, at how slowly normal this has all become. I never thought for a minute that I would become such a crunchy momma. Making granola, whipping up homemade peanut butter, baking our bread. As I have added each to our dining repertoire, I couldn't imagine going back, plain and simple--it just tastes better. It just feeds and fills the body so much fuller.

And here we find ourselves this Spring growing a garden. And the Craunlets beside us, also eager excited about growing our food. I am thrilled to further expose them to food origins, the natural seasons of food, and the amazing flavor of local fresh produce. Grown in our little patch of ground.

Yesterday, wanting some convenience food, and finding both our produce and pantry nearly on EMPTY...I decided to venture out for lunch with the Craunlets. It was a sunny breezy morning, ahead of a very busy day, so I thought a treat was certainly in order.

The stipulations that my mind first raced to were: must be local; must be good food for our bodies, must have outdoor dining [and serve lunch on the early side].

We decided on La Petite Triangle in Ohio City; just up the road from us. It was brilliant enjoyable to bring the Craunlets to a favorite french cafe that Dave and I like to frequent. We warmed ourselves from the cool breeze with a pumpkin steamer, and filled our bellies with a brie and ham crepe, a couscous lentil salad, and had a sweet finish with a strawberry banana crepe. The Craunlets giggled with delight on the patio, watched with wonder and curiosity as the crepes were being poured, browned, turned and filled. It was a lovely and satisfying taste of Cleveland, and a most delightful Spring lunch with the Craunlets.

Gratis, For this I am So Thankful

I found myself overwhelmed with appreciating many small and sweet good things this weekend. And it was salve to my Spirit on Sunday evening to begin listing them. Seeing them stack up, the goodness accumulating...and being filled up with thanks, with appreciation. Savoring the both delicate and satisfying taste of contentment.

Gratis. for thanks. Gratitude from Latin origins: Gratia. Associated with the terms grace, gratefulness, and graciousness; suggests the ideas of kindness, generousness, and gifts, the beauty of giving and receiving.

I have decided to start a weekly gratitude enumeration here...so here it goes, this week I am delighted to be thankful for:

1. My amazing supportive and encouraging husband. The one who helps me finish all my crazy projects and ideas. And remains calm in all my storms of frenzy.

2. Children who love to draw. And right now, love to draw people, and our family especially. I am at awe of their amazing and wondrous imaginations, and constantly surprised at their interpretations of our lives. They keep it funny and light around here. Like Nathaniel's drawing of Mommy, below: [I LOVE my hair...]


3. A Garden that is growing. Teeny tiny green sprouts in little spot patterns and rows poking through the soil. The profound mystery of seeds, and how they could just possibly become food here in a few many weeks. I am still in shock.

4. Sunny breezy days punctuated with fabulous Spring thunderstorms in the evenings.

5. A website. That I MUST ADD CONTENT TO. I MUST. Soon. But, even its bare bones are lovely, amazing. The foundation of a long time dream. A real space that is my own, and the first time I have been able to "see" all my work in one place. Like my own personal art sanctuary. That is well designed, which leads me to...

6. Great friends. Ones that are real. And live life alongside us. Ones that invest in our life. And one especially that designed my website. Which I love, as noted in number 5.

7. Little yellow pots on my kitchen window sill that are growing herbs. Growing, thriving.

8. SPRING. It is here. It is making everything green, and new and growing. And it is letting me be such a big part of it, which I feel like I have never been so aware of before.

9. Parents that love us and our children. Grandma's and Grandpa's on both sides. Very different, that both have sweet relationships with our family. The source of so much Craunlet conversation and delight.

10. Jobs that I love. Like enjoy beyond employment and pay checks. That amazes me all the time. Even when I feel overworked and a bit tired. There are always spots of rest in my flexible schedule, and lots of time for play.


What are you thankful for?

Clyde's Memory

Yesterday we attended the Memorial service for our dear friend and life mentor. The afternoon and into the evening was bittersweet; marked with both laughs and tears. Our decade-and-a-half relationship with Clyde forever changed our lives.

He invested in our young relationship, supported our European travels, and generously invited us to live on his property in the larger of his two homes [both designed by himself] for three years as we finished Grad School and began our professional lives. We became a small family nestled in the woods, we began cooking all of his meals, and helped to take care of the 12-acre wooded property near Chagrin Falls. It was a bit of a fairy tale...

We both moved from there to our next seasons of life.

Dave and I moved into the city. We got pregnant, and welcomed sweet Isabella into the world. Shortly after she was born, Clyde moved to Cincinnati, to an independent and assisted living facility in a Castle on a lovely wooded property, situated very near his son and family. Nathaniel was born, and became a part of our bi-annual visits to the Castle. We had come full circle on the fairy tale, it seems.


It was beautiful to celebrate his life yesterday. To reflect, to remember, and to finally have closure. Both Dave and I were invited to speak, and below is the message that I shared:

The most profoundly impacting attribute of Clyde in my life has been his deep and seemingly endless generosity. He gave with abandon, his time, his ear, his advice, his opinion, his hospitality, his home, his resources -- academically, professionally, financially, personally.

It was not uncommon to receive written correspondence from him weekly, or even more frequently. These handwritten letters were often over-brimming with articles, newspaper clippings, photographs, drawings, a watercolor, several lines of prose, bits of ephemera, even a review of a movie and $20 cash for a date night.

In his generosity, He also knew how to dream. And beyond himself, he knew how to invest in other peoples’ dreams. I had the pleasure of meeting him shortly after Ruth had passed away, and I think in some ways, Dave and I became an avenue for him to re-live his younger relationship with her, and an opportunity as a mentor to lavish on us. To directly help us to become successful; in our marriage, in our schooling, in our professions, and in any life endeavor. He would support us wholly and passionately, and would engage in our dreams alongside us. Looking back, I think in some ways he supported our dreams before I even had the courage to. He would meet our ideas, vision, and what-if’s with an eager enthusiasm and an interest in having a participatory and active role as a life-mentor.

To me, he will always be remembered as an endless well of generosity. A person that would wholeheartedly stand behind dreams, bridging any gap he could, blessing others faithfully and extravagantly.

Clyde passed away this past December. Only weeks after our lovely and impromptu visit in the Fall. What a sweet kiss goodbye. A memory I will treasure always.