Yes- 2020 has been one for the record books in many ways.  But take a moment (just a moment).  Stop reading… and list in your head those things that indeed you are thankful for!

I am thankful for my amazing, smart husband that has been lovingly building a (Scottish) cairn.  Many times, a cairn marks a grave, the old Scots Gaelic blessing ‘Cuiridh mi clach air do chàrn’ or ‘I’ll put a stone on your cairn’ is said to mean ‘I’ll always remember you’ and ‘you will not be forgotten’.

In my last blog I alluded to the fact that there is a new structure coming to Bedford Landings B & B.  This cairn will serve as the base for a sculpture to memorialize my daughter, Whitney, who died this summer.

Jack poured a footer, then poured a concrete column to stack the rock around. Among the skills we had building our B & B, laying stone was not among them, so we had to learn how to adhere a rounded rock to a flat surface.  It has been a little frustrating as the rock was falling off and we tried product after product.  But I think Jack’s patience paid off and it is almost complete.  The braces are to hold the rock until the 24-hour curing process has passed before removing the braces.

The sculpture is near complete thanks to the artistic oversight of sculptor, Larry Bechtel. It is in Floyd, Virginia, awaiting the final step.  The sculpture is an (polished steel) abstract but will have a “jewel” affixed to it.  The “jewel” is a piece of blown glass that has incorporated some of Whitney’s ashes into the design. Tim Burke, is the glass blower in the Glassworks shop at Crenshaw Lighting in Floyd, Virginia.  Pictured is the hot molten glass that he is working on.   If all goes according to plan, we are anticipating picking it up by Tuesday to mount on the cairn. 

We are hoping that on Thanksgiving we can give thanks to the light that Whitney brought into our lives for 35 years. And then give thanks for each other in our family.

Each year, we take a family photo but this year a few important family members will be missing.

 

This Thanksgiving take some time out of the busyness of kitchen.  Sit with your adult child and look at them.  Listen to them.  Love them and appreciate what they have brought to your life.

We expect four adult children (Katie, Garrett, Shawn and Quentin – we will be missing Jennifer, Alex, Tony, and Megan) coming to share their partners (Ashley, Tianna, and Chris) and seven children with us.  Risky during a pandemic? Yes! But we are all promising to have been cautious the past month and to be cautious while together. I want them to each know what joys they are to each other and to us.  We will miss our Whitney, our Michael, our Eloise, and even our sweet Bella.  But look who is still here!  Look around you!  Who do you appreciate? Give Thanks.

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