follow the Truth into the Eternal Light of God...

I wrote this for a family that is loosing the battle with childhood cancer. They are preparing for yet another journey of life. One that we must all walk some day... but never alone.... Angels are there guiding the last earthly breath and encouraging the very next breath of Eternal Light, Love and Life ..... We are all Gods Children... Sons and daughters of the Light... each with our cross to carry through our journey.... the one  Hope that Lives in each soul.... shall follow the Truth into the Eternal Light of God...

It is hard though the tears of pain and loss to see the joys of New Beginnings, New Hope, New Life...A transition, if you will, from a human body with a Spirit guided Soul, to a Heavenly Spirit guided Soul.... returning home to a Heavenly Family that Loves  and has missed him while he's been Blessings those here on earth.

God calls all children home back to our Eternal Home. Our hearts ache as human hearts do as grieve we must. But when the breath comes, and air breezes through.... we feel, we know, that our loved one is there... perfect in every way.... We find comfort in the sweet scent we detect, the brush of an unseen touch, the kiss of a breeze across your cheek.... You know your loved one is there.... being held in the softest hand, protected by the Love of the Eternal God....

This is what I wrote for Jack and his family:
This is a time of year we remember God's  human journey of trials, pain and Truth.... He walked through life knowing what would happen, yet he shared His Light with all. He traveled His journey on earth for a short time, and rejoined with His heavenly Family.

We are all children of God Created in His image. And Jack is walking his own human journey.... as your son, and as a cherished child of God. We all can only hope to live our lives as full and joyful as Jack and everyone at Camp Jack. You shine Light even in the darkness... and have shared that Light with all.... What a great lesson you are teaching each and every one of us. I thank you for that as it is though you we glimpse God.

You are  Angels here on earth. I look into Jack's eyes (OK, only though photo's but...) and though them, I see his heritage come though... I see the eyes of God looking In, With and Through him. There is depth of knowledge of the ages in his eyes... a pool of infinatant souls joining in his Light.... His eye's shine the Wisdom and Grace of God...

Stay strong as you follow in the footsteps of those that have gone before. You are a child of God and, as with us all, in God's time... we are all called home. May your journey continue as you follow Gods Light to so many adventures you have yet to behold....
May God grant you His Healing power and Grace, may He comfort you in times of darkness and may His Glory Shine upon you and all at camp Jack and grant you His Peace and Understanding.

May the Blessings and the Promise of Easter Be with you always.

Look into the eyes of a child
and see the Light of God.

Love and Light,
Nina P

The Cross Gardener by Jason F. Wright

You see them along nearly every road in this country. Small white crosses marking the spot of a heart-wrenching tragedy, a place where someone has died in an automobile accident.

In Jason F. Wright’s new novel, “The Cross Gardener,” the white memorial crosses take on a deeply emotional significance for one man and his family.

John Bevan was born on the side of the road as his teenage mother died from a tragic accident. He was adopted by Wayne Bevan, a kind hearted owner of an apple orchard, and it was in this orchard, along with his two older adopted brothers that John learned about life, love and family.

John also learned about loss along the way, and watched as his father erected two white crosses to remember two orchard workers who died in a truck crash, and then later placed a cross on his oldest son Tim’s grave after he died in a drowning accident. Those crosses held powerful meaning to Wayne Bevan, and he passed those sentiments down to his boys, so that when he died of lung cancer, John and his brother Scott placed a cross on their father’s grave as well.

But the small memorials take on an overwhelmingly personal meaning to John when his beautiful wife, his high-school sweetheart Emma Jane, and his unborn son were killed in a freakish car accident, leaving John and his small daughter Lou-Lou behind. In shock and grief, John erects two crosses for his wife and son on the side of the road, and visits them daily to the point of obsession. It’s the only thing that helps him cope with his loss, with his daughter’s refusal to talk, and with his family’s well-meaning, but misguided concern.

Then one day, he encounters a stranger who is kneeling beside his family’s crosses, giving them a touch-up of fresh paint. The man introduces himself as the Cross Gardener, and explains that it is his mission to take care of the many crosses in the Virginia valley. As John continues to run into the mysterious man, he begins to open up to him, and soon finds himself occupying the Gardener on his trips to various memorials.

As he learns more about his past, and visits the spots where his mother, his brother, and even the long-forgotten workers had left this earth, John begins to realize that although the accidents that took his loved ones were horrible to endure, that they were met by those who loved them to guide them home into God’s loving arms, and they were at peace. And someday, to his surprise, the Gardener assures John that he too would also met the person who would be his guide home, and it would amaze him as to who it would be.

“The Cross Gardener” is a touching, emotional look at the way people grieve when they lose a beloved member of their family and how they learn to cope in order to carry on their lives. Jason Wright’s style of storytelling captures the reader’s heart and draws them along on the journey to find forgiveness, acceptance and peace through this loving tale.

After reading this book, seeing a small white cross by the roadside might never be the same, and perhaps you can take the time to say a little prayer for the person it memorializes, and for the family left behind.

This book was deeply personal and touching for me, as my father was killed in a car accident 31 years ago, and although I want so badly to mark the area where he lost his life, I know that it would be destroyed due to the area of town where it happened. (He was a letter carrier in a poorer side of our town, and was hit by a drunk driver on his way back in to the post office after finishing his route.)

So I carry a small white cross in my heart for my daddy, and remember him daily.

I also see nearly weekly the white cross erected for my sweet cousin Gayla, a new mom, who lost her life to an idiot driver when she was just a young woman. I remember Gayla and her sweet daughter, Nicole, who was left behind, but has become such a sweet presence in our lives as she has grown up.

This book is from my personal collection.

Goodbye to Someone You Love: was written for someone that lost their mother......A Sister's Love: was written fot the loss of a sister...

GOODBYE TO SOMEONE YOU LOVE

It’s never easy to say goodbye
It’s downright hard I will not lie

Your heart it hurts as if to break
Please take it away for goodness sake

For all you feel is pain inside
Why oh why did she have to die

To leave you here with all this pain
And all your feelings to many to name

Why oh why are some lives short
Why oh why is my retort

Thinking back on all we’ve lost
We realize life has such a cost

Have faith in God, for He is Love
Have faith He’s looking down from above

Find comfort in knowing she’s by His side
For it’s in His home she now abides

She’s gone but yet she’s right near by
She’s in your dreams singing lullabies

She may not be right here on earth
But she’s up in Heaven it’s her rebirth

When you sit quiet and are at rest
That’s when your memory is at its best

Remember the fun you both share
The Joy and laughter it seems right there

For in those thoughts she’s reminding you
How much you are loved in all you do

Time will heal your broken heart
And you will know your not far apart

The gentle breezes across your cheek
Are her angle kisses oh so meek

Her scent you smell you can almost touch
Her spirit is near you, know that much

And when your sad and missing things
Remember she’s in Heaven with Angel wings

Time will pass your life will move on
And there will be times you come upon

Smiles will come and warm inside you
That’s her pride in all that you do

For years from now you’ll remember when
She held your hand a way back then

Find comfort in knowing all of this too
That one day you’ll see her and all will be new

She’s waiting in Heaven with all that have past
With Love in her heart that will last and last

God promised us through the gift of His Son
Life in Heaven His free gift we have won

Grief is a part that we must get past
In order to find Peace in our heart that will last

So take time now and shed your tears
For God knows this and all of your fears

May God keep you and hold on to you tight
And may sweet dreams be yours through the night

May family and friends continue with Pride
Know that’s what she’d want deep down inside

Goodbye with Love is what I send
To Mother, Daughter, Sister and Friend.

Written with love Nina P. 2006

A Sister’s Love

A sister’s Love is never lost
It stays right in the heart.

All you do is think of her
And you’re not that far apart

So grieve you must its part of life
It’s something we must do

Then take a breath and look within
She’s there inside of you

Her smile, laugh and things she did
You see her standing there

Her angel kiss you feel the touch
It breezes through your hair

So go outside and then look up
For that is where she’ll be

The promise of the Son it shines
For all of us you see.

Find Peace and comfort as she rests
She’s walking hand in hand

With loved ones that have gone before
They’re in the glory land.

She’s waiting there, you see, right now
She’s just behind that cloud

Close your eyes and listen well
It’s her sweet voice aloud:

The song within the birds you hear
And babbling of the brook.

So be at Peace and go within
She’s there just take a look.

Many Blessings be upon you now
And with your family

For God did promise with the Son
We’d meet in Calvary

Written with Love by Nina P. 9/19/08

Goodbye, Joe

I'm very saddened to say that I lost my cat Joe, to an illness this past Tuesday. He was only 12 years old (he'd been with us for 11). It was so unexpected and so quick! Joey was my first cat. I always thought he'd live to be 18 or 19. He always seemed so healthy and vital.

I called him "Joehead" because he loved to sit in boxes with just his head peeking over the top edge. Big boxes, small boxes, tall boxes, short boxes. It didn't matter to him. We'd put a box down and he'd jump in. I loved that about him.



No picky cat was he. He adored food. It was always his central preoccupation come about 4:30 in the afternoon each day. People say you can't train cats but that's not true. You just have to find out what motivates them. Sometimes that's hard. With Joe it was food.

Over the weekend we suddenly noticed, he wasn't eating very much. He ate a little bit of his food, but would leave most of it in the bowl and my other cat, Melchizedek would come along and finish it off. We'd seen this once or twice before over the years. No big deal. Usually at the end of winter he'd get cabin fever and be a little tired of his food. Then we gave him an extra treat of all wet canned cat food, something he just loved, and which we usually mix with the dry every couple of weeks as a change. But he still only ate a little bit.

Then we knew something was wrong. On the last day, he stopped drinking, and pretty much just laid by us. He'd lay in the living room if we were there. He slept next to the bed his last night. In his last days we spent as much time with him as we could. He was with us so long and through so much in Colorado and here in Wisconsin. He was the gentlest and friendliest cat I have ever known. He got along with other cats and dogs, loved people. He was part of my family.



We said "good-bye" to him (just in case) Tuesday morning before we left for work. When we returned, he was laying at the top of the stairs, where he used to greet us everyday coming home from work. It was as if to say goodbye. He had gone sometime in the afternoon and when we got home his body was cold.

I think I've cried a river of tears from that moment to now.

After petting him and saying our final goodbyes to him. We wrapped him in a cloth.

The evenings have still been freezing here, but that day it had been almost 60 degrees. That night, there was a full moon, the stars were out, and the air was warm. The snow had melted just that day around the flower bed in our backyard and the soil was soft. Robert dug a hole in the bed, a place Joe loved to eat catnip, sniff the garden smells, and roll in the dirt.
We buried him there.

Goodbye... My tux cat, our butler. Box cat. Joseph. I miss you.

The two sides of my mother

Why I thought this would be an easy post I have no idea. Probably because it's been on my mind for days. I thought I had it just about written in my head...but it took me a long time to get it out.

This is for my mother who passed on three years ago today.

I don't miss...
1. your rage.
2. your pain.
3. your prudishness.
4. you calling me stupid.
5. your stuckness.

I very much miss...
1. my momma
2. your awesome cooking
3. your special wisdom
4. my shopping buddy
5. having you there

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Contrary to what my Aunt thinks...my mothers favorite colors were green and pink (not purple and yellow). Where did that rumor start?

Title of Piece: Mothers
Medium: Digital Art
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