Saturday Shopping Link Up - Nana's orange

First, I want to apologize for missing my linky party last Saturday....it's been a little chaotic lately.   I talked about mine and Amanda's runaway day on Thursday, but I didn't talk about what else was important about Thursday.  This past Thursday, my mother, aka Nana, would have turned 82.  She went home to glory back in 2000, and I still miss her and want to talk to her, but I don't grieve as the world grieves, for I know the future, I will see her again the day I go home to glory.  But until then, I have my memories, and I searched out some pictures I wanted to share with you.  The first is my favorite.

You see, my mom was an artist.  And I have soooo many memories and stories of the times we spent at various art shows.  This picture is from the Allentown Art Festival held in Buffalo New York every year.  This was probably 1971 or 1972.  Some day I'll have to share about the time we had a Vietnam War protest, complete with the SWAT team in riot gear.  As a kid, I thought is was pretty cool.

When Mom became Nana, she was thrilled, and was the most doting, and fun, grandmother ever....every holiday and birthday, and even just weekends, were filled with excitement for her grandchildren.  Here we have my oldest son Greg, and my nephews Chris and D.J. dressed and painted as Indians, complete with fur vests that she sewed, shields that she helped the boys paint, and of course...war paint.  And she passed her artistic creativity on to her grandchildren, encouraging them to express themselves thru paper and paint.

She also played with adults, lol.  Always laughing and joking, I don't ever remember her yelling or getting angry, but I'm sure she did.  After all, there were 6 of us kids, growing up in the wild 60's and 70's.  There were many times she probably should have yelled at us, heehee.  We grew up roller skating in our dining room, having food fights in the living room, and bringing home strays....cats, dogs, and friends!  My mother was strongly independent, a single mother who managed to stay friends with her ex-husband.  There are so many things I could say about her, but the word the come to mind is...amazing.  My mother was amazing.  So to honor her, and your own mother, this linky party is dedicated to them.  Link up what ever reminds you of Mom, and if you can't find something that reminds you of your Mom, link up something orange.  That was Nana's favorite color!  And when you're done, if you are blessed enough to still have your mom around, call her and tell her what she means to you.  Don't wait till it's too late.

Debbi