Until we meet again, Aunt Mary

And now it's time to write the blog post that I've been dreading for a few months now: a tribute to my Great-Aunt Mary. She went to heaven Friday evening, finally letting go and leaving us to remember her.

Aunt Mary was my grandpa's only sister and she was the last one of my grandpa's immediate family. She now joins her parents and two brothers in Heaven. A few months ago, when she was almost 91, she was diagnosed with cancer. So she spent her last few months here on Earth, in hospice care at home, with her husband, Clarence. When I found out she was ill, I cried often and the sadness would catch me off guard, at odd times.

Aunt Mary and Uncle Clarence

Aunt Mary was joyful all of the time. She always had a smile on! She had a sharp sense of humor and a bit of a quick wit. One of her gifts was making you feel important when you had a conversation with her. She was interested in what the other person was saying, and she often touched you as she spoke - an arm around you, or her hand on yours. She was one of the most sincere people I have ever known. The funny thing is, as I think about it, I don't think I ever had a one-on-one experience with Aunt Mary. Every time I saw her, it was at a family function with dozens of people around. But just having a one-on-one conversation made me feel like I was the only other person around her.

Talking with Aunt Mary in our receiving line at our wedding reception.

She had the steadfast trust and faith in Jesus that many believers strive for. She often spoke about her faith and would weave it into conversation. She was just covered with the joy of Jesus. You could see it in her dancing eyes.

Growing up, "Aunt Mary's Cabin" was a summer tradition. Every year, my family would drive up near Spooner, Wisconsin, on the first Sunday in August and spend the day at Mary and Clarence's rustic little cabin. No bathroom, just an outhouse. A tiny kitchen, One bedroom where the girls would change into their bathing suits. The boys changed out in the shed. There was a small screened in porch and my favorite feature of the cabin was the two-person bench swing that hung from the ceiling. The roof of that room was open beams where you would find life jackets and canoe paddles stacked up there. The gathering was always a pot luck with lots of food, followed by some swimming and maybe a speed boat ride. This gathering of Aunt Mary's family, my grandpa's family, and their brother, Arden's family had been happening every summer, at the same place, since my dad was a kid. As the years went by, the group of people grew as the generations got married and had children. Uncle Clarence would often direct all of the cars as to where they should park as we crammed onto the lot. Every year, after the swimming was over and people were ready to leave, Aunt Mary would have each family gather and take their photo. Every single person that was there, every single year. She loved her family! Several years ago we moved the reunion to the cabin that my dad and his brother co-own. Aunt Mary and Uncle Clarence were too elderly to host any longer. But they still came to our cabin.

So I saw Aunt Mary at least once a year - always a guarantee at our "Paulson cabin" day. But I would often see her several times a year - at family weddings, graduation open houses, or bridal showers. She always had time to chat with me, catching me up on her kids and three grand-daughters. She was so proud of her family! They really were her pride and joy.

Having a conversation with Aunt Mary

When I became a bride in 2011, Aunt Mary gave me one of my most treasured positions. She gave me a blue plate that had belonged to her mother, my great-grandmother. I never met my great-grandmother. She passed away when my dad was in jr. high. The plate was given to my great-grandmother by her sister. And Aunt Mary kept it for years, finally passing it down to me. I treasure it and it is displayed in my kitchen as a reminder of the women who came before me and loved their families, raising them to be kind people who love Jesus and serve others. I work to carry on the legacy with my family.

The gift of a plate that belonged to my great-grandmother

Last year, Aunt Mary had a 90th birthday party. She was in fine form. She was still in good health -  moving around as though she was a spry 70-something, instead of the 90-year-old she had become. She was mingling with everyone there to celebrate her well-lived 90 years. Her children told her life story and we were all so happy to honor her in the way she deserved. She of course was joking around, connecting with her loved ones, being her usual joyful self. And she wore a crown the entire time. It was a wonderful party and I'm so glad I got to be there.

When I found out that Aunt Mary had fallen ill, I sent her a card. I sat at my kitchen table and let the tears roll as I wrote to her and told her that I want to be just like her - joyful in Jesus, having a positive attitude, and fiercely loving those people God has blessed me with and given to me as family.

At Aunt Mary's 90th birthday party

I will miss you Aunt Mary. But as you have trusted Jesus as your Savior and I have done the same, we are daughters of a King and will reunite some day in Heaven. I am certain that when you met the arms of Jesus, He said to you, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." A life well lived that continues on in the hearts and memories of those who loved you so dearly.

Aunt Mary and Uncle Clarence

A bridal shower for a book worm

A few weeks ago I was a co-hostess for a bridal shower for my cousin, Heather. In thinking about Heather and what she's all about, watching her grow up, and spending time with her over the years, I decided to throw her a themed shower and the choice was obvious. Heather loves reading. When she had her Senior pictures taken a few years ago, she had some really cute poses with books. She has been an avid book reader, devouring hundreds and hundreds of books.

One search for book themed showers on Pinterest and all sorts of ideas are out there. I decided to keep it simple, on a small budget, and not go overboard.

I started with invitations. I wanted invitations made out of actual library cards in a jacket, but for the number of invitations I needed, it was too expensive. But I found a great designer on Etsy.

The link to these invitations on Etsy is here: http://etsy.me/1QFD8gH

It is a pdf file and the seller was very easy to work with. After a few correspondence back and forth, she sent me the pdf and I printed them myself on cardstock, cut them down, and tossed them in envelopes I already had in my craft stash.

I stuck a note in each invitation and asked that each guest bring their favorite book to the shower. I assured them that the book would be returning home with them. When guests arrived to the party, we stacked up the books. When it was time for Heather to open the gifts she had to chose a book off the pile and try and guess which guest had brought the book. Then when the owner was revealed (if she didn't guess correctly) she opened the gift from that person. It made the gift opening interactive, but after getting a few wrong, Heather was over the guessing. She was a good sport and finished the pile.

For decorations, we tried to keep it cheap and simple, and within the theme of books. I found an old paperback book in my personal library and ripped out pages. Then I cut the pages into about 2" wide strips and made a couple of paper chains. We hung the long one across the living room window and a shorter one across the fireplace mantle.

I made a banner from book pages that said, "Happily Ever After." I printed out a large font, cut out the letters, traced them onto a book page, cut out the letter from the page, cut squares for the backing, glued the letters to the squares, punched 2 holes in each square, and threaded it all onto a ribbon.

I couldn't get a good shot of the whole banner, so here it is in pieces.

We had a couple of tables out on the deck, so to dress up the tables a little, I made simple centerpieces from objects around the house. I took the dust jackets off of hard cover books and stacked items on top of them. All I was looking for were books with a good color...I didn't want all of them to be black or gray. Snoozeville!

Simple Spring arrangement on top of a couple of books.

Tea light candles inside Ball jars. Dried split peas were my filler. All stuff I had around the house!

In the kitchen, we placed a small Spring arrangement on top of a couple of books.

The final decoration to pull our book theme together was a dessert stand I made. 

Do you think there may have been a little bit of butter in those cookies?

It cost me a whopping $2.60 to make the dessert stand, thanks to Goodwill. I bought three books for 20 cents a piece and two glass taper holders for a dollar each. When looking for books, I looked for books that were a nice color under the dust jacket, and I bought a large for the base, a medium for the middle, and a smaller one for the top. Then I used Gorilla Glue to glue the candle holders in between the books. Otherwise the stand would have been far too tippy. 

We put the dessert stand on the food table as the main centerpiece. I found the letters and ampersand on the top at a boutique. They are made from books! Someone just took old hard cover books and used a saw to cut the books into letters. Genius! This was my gift to Heather for her to keep for her new home. 

I toyed with the idea of having the food be book themed, but I decided I had enough of the theme tied in so we just made food we thought would be good. Hot ham and cheese sandwiches, veggie platter with dip, a cheese ball and crackers, a seafood pasta salad, fruit salsa with cinnamon pita chips, brownies, fruit puffs, small cookies, and little fruit tarts. A big thank you to my aunt, my cousin, my sisters, and my mom for making the food and punch!

We played only one game, and of course it was book themed. I came up with a list of 20 pairs from literature and the game was to match them up. Some pairs were romantic, some were friends. Some examples were: Jay Gatsby & Daisy Buchanan, Scout Finch & Dill Harris, Katniss Everdeen & Peeta Malark, Huck Finn & Tom Sawyer, etc.

Congratulations to Heather!