Always In My Heart

I realized I never shared this nonfiction short work on my blogs about the experience of losing my first love my daughter. Please go to this link: Always In My Heart. In order to read my story and see how I decided not to let this loss define how I lived my life.  This may be especially helpful to those dealing with a miscarriage right now in their lives, or for anyone who ever has felt the pain of losing a child.  I urge you to read this short work to find some semblance of solace. Know that your rainbow exists, it’s just a little further down your life’s path than you expected.

Wishing you happiness!

Rainbows of Happiness LLC

Weekly Photo Challenge-Between

This week’s photo challenge for the Daily Post asks photographers to show the concept of between whether through objects, people, the actual feeling of feeling torn between decisions etc.  Here are a few examples I decided on for the subject of “between” hope you enjoy!

A landscape capture using depth of field to show a tree in the distance between the space in the branches of another tree. The viewer gains more of the surroundings as a result of peering through the space created between the branches.

The love shared between mother and daughter.  This bond is eternal and nothing can ever come between them to break this special connection!

I discovered this spider web formed between two tree branches.

Hidden deep between the blades of grass I uncovered this sparkling water droplet resting on a blade of grass.  It reflected the light beautifully casting a rainbow colored light on the blade upon which it was sitting.  It looked like a jewel resting regally between the vibrant green blades of grass!

This was an interesting addition to the Eiffel Tower when I was in France last month. Hanging between the usually open space was an inflatable tennis ball to advertise the tennis tournament the following week.  The inflatable ball was illuminated at night so it could easily be seen from afar.

So there you have it some very different depictions of the challenge of between.  What ways can you think you to depict the theme of between?

Weekly Photo Challenge- Between

Recollections From a Compact Mirror

“I already know what you’re thinking. Who would want a used up, scratched compact with a miniature powdering puff so small. It would take days to apply my cover up! And what do the letters VF on the cover even mean?”

“Well my friends let me recount a little of my history to you and the secrets lying within me, then maybe you’ll come to see that I am in no way ordinary, but in fact extraordinary! That my scratches   are part of my charm, and why my cover bears the letters VF upon it.”

“I belonged to a woman named Vera Falvo, those are her initials engraved on my cover.  She wasn’t one for fancy, frivolous items which wasted money.  For some reason, she was drawn to me upon seeing me in the shop.  Back then, my paint was lustrous and the sunlight bounced off my gleaming mirror sending rainbows of color cascading off the surrounding walls.  I was quite a stunning sight to behold.  The intricate design created on my cover, coupled with the fresh miniature powder puff to apply the powder once contained within were an immediate draw.  The additional pocket found on my powder puff was designed for a finger to be slipped inside to apply powder effortlessly! I was quite revolutionary in design for that pre-Depression era.”

“Vera fell in love with me instantly, but being the type of woman who didn’t approve of spending money on herself, she left me at the store, heading home to care for her young children and husband.  Money was tight, I was a luxury she could certainly get by without.  That night as her family sat around the dinner table, she must have mentioned seeing me in the shop, and her husband must have picked up on the longing in her voice, because the next day I found myself lifted from the display case, carried to the counter by the shop owner, to be shown to a gruff sounding male with blue eyes as bright as the sky.  (I knew they matched the sky because I’d seen hints of it from my perch in the shop through the glass storefront window).  Then I heard the shopkeeper say,

“Sir if you’d like I could engrave your wife’s initials on the compact’s cover.”

“Why not, she deserves to have something pretty” the blue eyed man responded.

“The next thing I felt was something sharp tearing into my lovely painted cover, but when it stopped I caught a glimpse of myself in the store’s mirror on the countertop and saw I now had the letters VF inscribed on me in beautiful cursive script.  Then everything went dark as I was carefully wrapped and packaged.”

“Suddenly my darkness was brightened by the packaging being excitedly torn away and I was staring at the face of the woman who had lovingly held me in her hands, admiring me only a day prior.  She gasped with delight at the sight of me, running her fingertips over the newly engraved VF, her initials.  Then flung her arms happily around the blue eyed man sitting next to her, watching with pleasure as she unwrapped me.”

“Every day Vera took me out of the box I came in and after inspecting my intricacies, slowly, methodically applied her powder using the specially designed puff.  She even put her favorite pink hued lipstick in the lipstick holder that was attached to me and had also been engraved with her initials. Unfortunately, one day all my powder was used up as well as the lipstick.  Did Vera discard me like some useless object?  No, she kept me out to decorate the surface of her vanity.  One day I felt myself lifted up, and carried off to another part of the house. I thought this was it for me, she was going to shove me in a drawer somewhere since I had outlived my purpose.  Suddenly, I felt my little powder puff removed as I was laid on a table.  Then Vera placed something in the finger pocket of the powder puff, replaced the puff, closed me up, and returned me to my original place on the vanity.  What she placed in the pocket of my powder puff let me know she would always treasure me as special to her.  I breathed a sigh of relief, and set about watching the decades pass from my perch on the vanity. What was it she placed in my pocket you want to know? Look below in the final picture to see.”

A photo of herself was in the pocket!

Weekly Photo Challenge Letters

All words when broken apart are a bunch of individual letters that when separated don’t deliver any type of impact, but when strung together, create excerpts that can resonate with the reader long after they have read a particular piece of writing! That is the magic within letters. They can unite to create a poignant piece of poetry, or a riveting edge of your seat thriller of a story. Letters combined into words can elicit immense emotional responses from an individual coupled with the tone and the manner in which one delivers them. These tiny insignificant letters are not insignificant at all! When presented in sentences such as, “Will you marry me?” They cause a euphoric reaction within an individual. They can cause intense pain when presented in sentences such as “You are fired!” Letters are powerful when united into words. Be sure to use yours wisely!

As a previous kindergarten teacher, I had the pleasure of introducing children to the magic created when combining letters to form words. This initial introduction for children to the concept of taking individual letters to create words, and from there form sentences, paragraphs, stories, and so on, is essential. Teachers are entrusted with the task of educating tomorrow’s leaders. The elementary process of connecting letter sounds together to formulate words may be something many people have long since forgotten about because it is practically innate in us. These new learners however must be enlightened to the secrets behind creating words using 26 letters. Their journey to incorporating letters into words has just commenced!

If you ever enter a kindergarten classroom you will see the alphabet prominently displayed for these eager new minds. Additional posters on how to correctly print these letters, along with cute eye-catching pictures depicting characters whose names begin with each letter of the alphabet to help students make the letter-sound connection, are seen gracing the walls of the classroom. Last year, courtesy of Pinterest, my colleagues and I took the letter craze one step further. We built crate seats for the work centers and found fabric depicting the letters of the alphabet to cover the seats with. This is what you see pictured above. The students now had another additional reminder of letters whenever they went to work centers! Letters may seem small and unimportant when encountered individually, but together their importance and strength comprises endless possibilities! Letters are small but mighty!

Best Friends From the Start!

          Jaime and I in kindergarten!

I met my best friend Jaime over thirty years ago on the first day of kindergarten!  I had been worried about making new friends on my first day of school so I had asked my mother how I should make friends.  She told me to simply be a friendly person and go up to other children saying, “Hi my name is Jennifer, do you want to be friends?”

Being five, I took her words very literally, and when I entered school on that first day of kindergarten, I approached a tiny fellow classmate with the longest hair I had ever seen and said those exact words my mother had instructed me to say in hopes she would be my new friend.  It worked! My mom was right! Alli had to do to make friends was to be friendly and smile! Little did I know that introducing myself to this long haired little girl was the best thing I could have done! We became best friends immediately and still are to this very day!

I believe the reason Jaime and I are still best friends today despite living in separate states, is because we have always been there for one another.  As children our relationship stayed strong because we always got along, liked similar things, yet we didn’t have the exact same personality.  We were different just enough, that it allowed us to revel in each other’s uniqueness, bringing out the best in one another.  Jaime is a talented artist, I can’t draw to save my life! I loved reading constantly, which has helped me to become a detailed writer.  We both love animals, rainbows, dragonflies and butterflies, and taking photographs.  As the years passed, our friendship moved beyond the realm of being best friends, and we became like family.  We still refer to each other’s mothers as “mom #2”.  We have never fought over anything, and continue to this day to discover new dynamics in our friendship.

Our friendship has been strengthened over the years due to a mutual respect for one another.  We support each other in all we do, cheering each other on, applauding achievements accomplished, consoling the other when life throws us an unexpected curveball that results in sad outcomes, and even if we have been apart for long periods of time, we are able to pick up right where we last left off!  We stay in touch through texts, use the various social media platforms to stay abreast of what is happening in each other’s lives, and take turns writing handwritten letters that we mail (so rare in this technology driven world) to each other.  The reason we are able to still be best friends, despite living in separate states is we take the time to care about what is happening in each other’s lives!  That is the key to keeping a lasting friendship going.

Some of you may know the rhyme “Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the others gold”, well Jaime is my golden friend for life!

Jaime and I on the last day of high school!

Daily Post Prompt Strong

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First Home, Forever Home!

My first memories I have of my first home conjure up images of well-worn hardwood floors, a cushioned chair in the shade of goldish-yellow with sturdy arm rests made of wood, a small tv set in a deep brown colored tv stand that also held books an either side, and long filmy curtains in the windows.  I was two and we lived in an apartment on the second floor of a two story home.  The building was owned by my grandfather.        
My first home was full of life.  There was me, a noisy two year old running around in shoes that echoed off of the hardwood floors, followed closely by my constant companion, our German Shepherd named Columbo, whose nails clicked and clacked on the hardwood.  I couldn’t say his name correct, being only two so I settled for calling him “Bumbo” instead.  There were cousins, family members, and friends coming and going in that little apartment.  My dad would come home from work to crawl all over the hardwood floors with me riding proudly upon his back.  Meanwhile my mom would be cooking or baking something delicious that would waft enticingly from the kitchen. 

I remember the metal radiators, snake like in their coils, how they emitted such warmth throughout the little apartment.  It was always nice and cozy there!  I also remember the smell of the wood vanish used to clean the hardwood floors.  How it seemed to take forever for it to dry, keeping me and “Bumbo” off the floors and interrupting our games of imagination. 

That apartment is still around and still owned by my family.  A testament to time standing still somewhat.  

Daily Post Prompt Home

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Weekly Photo Challenge Three

A post challenge of three!  I had to share these beautifully designed cupcakes I was lucky enough to eat at a bridal shower this past weekend! They are arranged on a “three” tiered mirrored tray to enhance their appeal!  They were quite delicious each one artfully decorated with care!  A true trifecta of decadence!

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Weekly Photo Challenge Treasure

My Heart, My Love, My Treasure!
Throughout my life I’ve been lucky to have many things that I once only dreamed of possessing!  But the treasure of my life is my husband! Quietly caring in his mannerisms, he would do anything for me.  When I feel down he will do silly things, just to make a smile cross my lips.  He knows me better than I know myself at times!  He knows what music makes me want to dance, what my favorite type of chocolate is and when I really could use some of it to make me feel happy.  Some days he comes home after a long day of working hard at his job, with a bouquet of flowers for no reason, a blu-ray dvd of a movie he knows I love, or some other surprise to make my eyes light up with happiness!  He does so many things to make me happy that I couldn’t begin to list them all here.  I truly treasure his love, and know I could never find anyone who would try half as hard to bring me the joy that he does!  He is what I treasure most in my life.  When we are apart I wait with bated breath for him to return home each day.  He has changed my life for the better and understands me unlike any other person I know.  I am so grateful to have met him and to have been lucky enough to have him return my love!  I treasure every moment with my husband, and am profoundly grateful that destiny brought him to me!

weekly photo challenge treasure

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Daily Prompt Legacy

Legacy of a Lifetime
     My dears, days of sunrises draw to an end,
before breath fails me, there’s a message I must send.
     On these precious pages, exist tales you need to know,
stories recounting accomplishments, highs and lows.
     Lessons learned, mistakes made,
please listen closely, time will too soon fade.
     Read this retelling, take what it says to heart,
grant this final request, before our lives must part.
     Share the words imparted, with both young and old,
they must remember who I was, my story needs to be told!
    Dreams, hopes, wishes, discovered upon these pages,
my greatest writing masterpiece, shared repeatedly throughout the ages!
     When from this Earth I become, a mere memory,
this book will remain behind, as my lifetime legacy!

*The Daily Post prompt was to share what you would leave as your legacy.  I feel the reason I became a writer was so my legacy to future generations would be a lifetime of learning to love literature and to hopefully inspire many others to become writers and find a love for the written word as well.  This prompt really makes one think.  What would your legacy to future generations be?
Daily Post Prompt Legacy

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Valentine’s Day Deer, Doe, and More!

First and foremost a very Happy Valentine’s Day to all! I hope you’re enjoying it with the one or one you love most! 🙂  This deer and doe certainly are! 🙂 

Valentine’s day isn’t just for couples of the human race, animals express their passion for one another in their own manner.  For instance animals are protective of their loved ones (much like us humans).  They look out for each other when foraging for food (like the deer corn I have to put out twice a day due to this frigid weather!) to make sure their loved ones get the nutrition they need to survive.  Now if that’s not love I don’t know what is!  My problem is that their families are huge!  The crows around here show their love for each other by telling the first, second, third, and fourth cousins to come get food in my backyard! I’m running through my deer corn faster and faster in this weather! Someone has to help them out though with all the snow though! 🙂

Then of course there is the protective comraderie between the teeny tiny birds and what I call the “momma bird” who makes sure the birds of smaller statue get food and maintain a watchful eye over the scene.  This is a type of love formed through friendship and probably the most interesting type of relationship in the animal kingdom for me!

Above is the lookout “momma bird” as I call her!

Here are the little ones “momma bird” watches out for while they eat! 🙂

Well we all have someone to watch over and protect showing our love in various ways. Whatever your plans this Valentine’s Day, I hope you have a wonderful time! 

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