JeanMarieHelme memorial weekend.
But I have to admit, the past two weeks have been such a blur and so much was packed into the last 14 days, that I have to rely on my photos to help me with what happened when. So you are getting much more than a 2nd day report.... (check out Mish's blog on our actual 2nd day at Donna's... see here)In these last 2 weeks, there were 3 full days on the road, 1 day of airline flight, a viewing, a funeral, grieving, laughing, visiting...
(Childhood friends~my brother, Jim, and Bobby)
meeting a new Great-niece, Lucy (great in the literal sense)...
seeing old, familiar city sights...
Note the hot dog cart across the street~yum!
During the Jersey weekend, there was a multi-opinioned discussion on "who really is a 3rd cousin once removed" (Gene, have you figured it out yet?), porch rocking, shower scheduling, iced-coffee drinking, flea market bargain hunting...
Danny manning his stand with Donna looking over his shoulder (lol)
Baby Bria hitching a ride
Robert checking out the video games
and there was Cake Boss stalking (see here)!
On the road to Mo, I spent a night at a high school friend of my daughter, who is the mom to a number of young foster children as well as her own, and I marveled at her motherly skills (see here). I played detective (thanks, Vic), and got the #'s of two friends from my St. Pete days who now live in various areas of West Virginia, just to say "hi" as I drove through their state ~ even though I was in WVA for just a measly 5 minutes.
And in the last two weeks I drove over the St. John's, Savannah, Santee, Cape Fear, James, Potomac, Delaware, Susquehanna, Ohio, M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i (!) Rivers, just to name a handful, and I canoed down the Big Piney River with Hope and Charlie (I love rivers, by the way!)...
I spent 9 glorious days in a little town nestled in the Ozarks with my daughter, son-in-heart, and granddaughter...
A budding photographer
I meet a number of their wonderful friends...
Charlie and Hope with some friends
Hope with some neighbor friends
And in this militay town, I realized there is truth to the cliche - "there's nothing like a man in uniform!" They were everywhere!!! The phrase "eye candy" comes to mind. (Hmmm... can I even use the words "funeral" and "eye candy" in the same blog!? Somehow, I have a feeling that my Mom wouldn't mind...lol. If she was there, her eyebrows would be raised quite a few times, with a head nod towards the uniforms walking by)....
I spent a number of hours in a barn breathing in the scents of leather, feed, hay, and the sweet aroma of horses, watching in amazement the bond between Hope and her horse as other horses whinnied from their stalls...
And I participated in a search for a band of wild horses that roam the area known as the Ozark National Scenic Riverways (so you can imagine how beautiful that area was!). And the search was successful (see here)...
During this day, as Charlie, Hope, and her friend, Trinity body-surfed the mild rapids in a crystal-clear river.... 
...Michelle and I explored a trail armed with our cameras. We must have passed no less than 20 caves carved into of the side of the mountain as we hiked under granite outcroppings. (So there you have it, Brother Jim. I did go on a hike and a mountain was involved...lol) Beauty was everywhere....
On one of the days in Mo, we had a Nana/Hopers time (see here), and our outing included a special lunch in a silver-clad diner on Historic Route 66...
And amazingly, our waitress, who was a young woman, had a "Nana Bun". What are the chances of that!...
Many smiles these past two weeks as incidents such as this occurred!
So many wonderful memories wrapped around the occasion of laying my mom to rest.
And now I'm back in Florida and there is no noise of the walker coming down the hallway.
Her absence is keenly felt.
She was a unique woman, a good mother, a fun Nana to her grandchildren.
She made an unforgettable impression on all she met.
She will be missed by many!
And her memory will be cherished!
And her memory will be cherished!
