quote – Chronic Grace

Falling

Autumn is the hardest season. The leaves are all falling and they’re falling like they’re falling in love with the ground.

Andrea Gibson

autumn…leaves and light

Autumn is the hardest season. The leaves are all falling, and they’re falling like they’re falling in love with the ground.

Andrea Gibson

gfancy_leaves_bokeh-kkcaramel

gfancy_leaves_fairy17 gfancy_leaves_fairy3

making photographs

We are making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us.

Ralph Hattersley

Nine years. It’s been nine years since I last saw my mother’s heartstoppingly beautiful smile. I miss you mom, miss you so much my heart aches and I can’t catch my breath. You were right, of course, I turned out to be stronger than I ever thought I could be–after all, I never thought I could live or ever be happy again without you–but oh, how I miss that warm, generous, beloved smile. And oh, what I’d give for one more hug. Just one more…

The absence of that presence is everywhere. (Patricia Hampl)

My only real comfort today is the same as it was then, that you are at home with the only One who could love you more than me. And that someday, that same One will wipe away all our tears, and we will all be together again, and there will be no more goodbyes, ever.

0ef08-momwed2 — My mom and me sharing a moment at my wedding dance during the song “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” which George and I dedicated to our moms.

the beautiful people

In our society, when we talk about “the beautiful people” we usually mean the well-off, the best-looking, those genetically and financially blessed people who wear the latest fashions and frequent the most exclusive clubs and the best restaurants, etc. The grown-up version of the high school “in” crowd, basically.

But just how beautiful are they, really? I have a definition I find more accurate; and today, on International Women’s Day, I want to dedicate it to the women in my family, especially my Aunt Jo, my cousin Melinda, and the memories of my mom and grandmothers. Because they are, truly, the most beautiful people I have ever met.

The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known struggle, known loss, and have fought their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen. (Elizabeth Kubler-Ross)