Snapshots: A Corporal Work of Mercy

A few months ago, our priest said a funeral Mass for a lady who grew up here and lived here most of her life. She had moved, however, and none of her family was here anymore. Her daughters sent her ashes to our priest and asked him to bury them here, as it was what their mother had wanted.

There was no one at the burial except me and one other lady from church--and the priest, of course--and there was no marker for her grave. Her daughters had a little memorial plaque made for her and sent it just recently to the priest. There was no way to set it in the ground, however.

I had thought I would just have one of the boys make a wooden cross to afix it to or something, but then A. and one boy ended up shaping and chiseling out a stone to put the plaque on. After it was done, we went to the cemetery so A. could set the stone in concrete. 

It is very flat there.

Edited to add: That photo doesn't show the actual grave marker Son made, but I think some of you assumed it was one of the ones in the photo. I figured out how to obscure the personal details of the plaque he was working with, though, so here's the actual marker he made.

Flowers courtesy of Poppy.

My brother and his daughters have started making cards for the children for their birthdays. I love these cards. I got a text from my brother a week or so before the new 13-year-old's birthday asking if the birthday boy was still into tanks.

Well. I mean. Is there such a thing as a boy who grows out of tanks? I don't think so, and replied to that effect. This was the card my brother made.

This is a card made by a 49-year-old boy for a 13-year-old boy. Perfect.

The school supply lists have been posted on the school Facebook page. We still have a month or so before school starts, but I figured I should take advantage of the quiet house while A. was gone with most of the children and sort through what I already had so I could figure out what I needed.

I have a lot of folders.

I found quite a lot of things I forgot I had stashed away. Like boxes of crayons and colored pencils, and a 12-pack of glue sticks. I even found pencil boxes and scissors for everyone. Yay.

This little dude was hanging between the two chains on my bedroom ceiling fan.

I squished him. I don't care if it was Charlotte herself, I will not have a spider suspended above my face while I'm sleeping.

And last, some flowers. Of course.

Some below-the-hill flowers--and berries--A. brought me.

The big bookcase arrangement when I still had hollyhocks.

And the big arrangement without hollyhocks. This is what I'll bring to church tomorrow for the altar. It was better with the hollyhocks. Curses on the hollyhock-eating grasshoppers.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.