In Loving Memory ... One Year

ANITA DOUIN July 16, 1929 - November 14, 2011

Anita or Ma'am, to most everyone ... but "Ma" Douin to ME, since I was around 10 years old. How I loved you, Ma ... through eternity! You were my friend, my confidante, protector of my young Soul, my 'Ma' when things in my young Life didn't always feel good and right. You were one person, one adult, I felt at home with ... one who listened to me, and not only listened, but HEARD me, no matter what. 

I always felt 'safe' with you, Ma ... and as time flew by and I got older, though I was not always close in proximity to you, I always, ALWAYS felt close to YOU, no matter how many miles or how many days, months, or years were between us. You were,  as your daughter was and still is to me, close, loving, forgiving, beautiful, my best friend, my confidante, my heroine ... and so much more!

How I miss knowing you are up in Maine ... How I miss that I can't just drop you a line whenever I get the urge! How I miss knowing I can make a little time to drop by to see you when I'm in town ... I can't believe it's been a year already, Ma! Why does it seem like just yesterday that I was a young pre-teen, carrying breakfast that I'd cooked especially for your daughter through the 'gully' path and knocking on your door ...

"Morning Ma! Is Kathie up yet?" And you laughing about the fact that us youngsters were so spontaneous, so close to each other, and so silly at times "Whassitto you? Whagidoo?" "You all right Scott boy speak to me sonny!" "Merrill take it out .... HUAH!" Oh my! We were very silly indeed! But how we laughed ... how we laughed at the silliest things: "Forty-one!" "Gleep!" And you always accepted me for me .... that silly, crazy, irreverent best friend of your daughter's who happened to live right behind you ... just a path's length away through the 'gully' ... 

We all know that with Life eventually comes death, and we accept death, even when it is difficult to accept because we have no choice but to accept it. Life is wonderful, filled with joys and love beyond our wildest dreams, but it is also wrought with sadness and tears. As we mature, we learn to take each bump, each hill and mountain as it comes. We learn to accept, bless with love and peace, and move forward as time passes ... 

God blesses us richly with little joys, and God blesses us richly with little difficulties ... combined, these little psychodramas are what build our character, make us each individuals, unique, and special. We need to continue moving forward, as our wise older adults informed us each time there was a death in our family, "Life goes on!" and that it does! Time waits for none of us.

But something Time can NOT take from us is our memories. They are engraved upon our hearts and Souls, and in our minds, for Eternity. You, and all the memories that came along with You, Ma, will remain etched on my Heart and Soul for the rest of my Life! 

May You rest in Peace until we are someday united once again ...

I love you. 

Your "Other" daughter ~ Kathi 

Autumn's Arrival ... Sort of!

Oh, it's that time of year again! I always wistfully imagine myself up north this time of year to take in the spectacular foliage in my home state of Maine! There is NOTHING in the world like the smells, sites, and sounds associated with the Autumn Equinox and Fall in New England.

From the crisp, chilled air that signals one to prepare for the coming of Winter even as the sun still hangs high in the sky, to the smells of cinnamon, MacIntosh apples, and pumpkin pie; Fall in New England is and has always been my favorite time of the year, with Halloween being my very favorite Fall holiday, and Thanksgiving coming in a close second!

Every Autumn, I connect with MaineFoliage to peruse the photographs and for information related to Fall, in an attempt to allow my senses to soar and my imagination to kick into high gear! Oh, how I love Fall ... so when I choose to live up in Maine for 6 months out of every year, the months I choose to be there will be May-October. Those are the best times of the year to live in New England, in my personal opinion. Late Spring through Early Fall ... perfect!

Some of the sounds, sights, and smells that crack my memory banks and bring me back to childhood instantaneously are the sounds of dry leaves and twigs snapping under my feet whilst strolling in the woods, the pungent scent of burning leaves, the sweet scent of apples, and the heady scents of cinnamon and cloves, the brightly colored horizon, painted in hues of crimson, burnt orange, and the deepest and most rich golds ever known to humankind. How I miss Autumn in New England ...

When I was a kid, I was always attempting to preserve the colors of the leaves by either collecting them and ironing them in between waxed paper, which actually worked quite well, I might add; to pressing them between the pages of a heavy book. (Usually, the leaves ended up drying to a crisp brown and crumbling into a mess when I would retrieve them, eventually) But the ones I ironed between two sheets of waxed paper usually stayed their color. I wonder what happened to all those ironed leaves ...

And the pumpkins! We would go out with our parents and hunt down the best pumpkins, in graduated sizes ... 5 of them, when it was only 5 of us siblings ... and Dad would carve 5 different faces into each of them very carefully, and set them outside with Christmas lights inside them. Five Jack O'Lanterns lined up in graduated sizes from largest to smallest, to represent each of us kids, from oldest to youngest. That was always exciting ... and one year it warranted a photograph in the local section of the Morning Sentinel! Dad was pretty creative and quite talented, I might add, a legacy he left all 7 of his children with his early demise ...

Today, as I daydream about being in my home state, soaking up the sounds, sights, and smells of Autumn, I will sip a cup of hot apple cider brewed effortlessly through a Keurig. It's not even close to REAL Maine apple cider, but it's a decent facsimile, I suppose. And perhaps I'll burn a cinnamon & clove soy candle, which I actually purchased in Maine when I was up there in early September. THAT will help me reminisce ... sort of. Until I step outside my front door into the blanket of thick, humidity and 80+ heat, that is! 

Nothing wrong with daydreaming, then ...

*All photographs property of MaineFoliage.com