img src: susannah conway

we will be spending this weekend remembering my husband's wonderful grandmother as we honor her and attend her memorial.  she passed away 2 weeks ago and she will be and is dearly missed.  i had planned on doing a normal weekend wishes but it just didn't seem to come out that way.  i found this image and thought...that's the one and left it at that.  it's peaceful, serene and benches are where i do a lot of deep thinking in my life.  i always seem to find one somewhere and they are usually in a beautiful setting just perfect for reflecting on life and what's important in them.  so i only thought it fitting to post a picture of one today.

we had to have a talk with mack about what happened to her great grandma and explain the situation as she is coming to the service on the weekend and we wanted her fully prepared.  we also thought she was old enough to understand some of the basics of what happened and we didn't want to have her asking about great grandma and not knowing what had happened.  she seemed to handle it all pretty good, better than i did in fact and seems to be happy in the fact that we told her that great grandma will always be in her heart and she can think of her whenever she wants to and feel her close to her.

teaching a child how to grieve or say goodbye is new to us.  we have been fortunate in our lives to have not lost too many loved ones so this is all a learning experience for us to go through with our children.  i'm not sure if the finality of it all has sunk in to mackenzie but she seemed to grasp the concept that great grandma was sick and is now no longer with us.  she asked to bring a flower to the memorial so she could say goodbye.  sweet little thing she is.  brings tears to my eyes.  i feel so blessed to have gotten to know my hubbies grandma as she was a wonderful woman.  i also feel blessed that the sewing desk that i sew on everyday was hers and was given to me by her.  i think of her often while sewing and have some of her old patterns and a notebook with her handwritten notes/patterns in.  i will treasure them always.

i'm wishing you all a very peaceful and reflective weekend filled with your loved ones.  happy creating and making and i'll see you on monday :)

anyone have any tips to share on how to talk to children about the passing of a loved one?  how to handle the service?  or what you have done to help them deal with the situation?  what are your weekend plans? what are you all up to?

p.s. have you entered the glerup slipper giveaway yet?  seriously..don't miss this one...the best slipper ever!!