Shirley Anne’s Heart

Posted By drsao on May 17, 2009

Catherine has made tremendous progress in the past week!  A week ago Saturday  she took a catastrophic spill and had a nasty ankle break which, because of a prolonged period during which the foot was dislocated and a tremendous amount of blood loss, the surgeon had serious doubts as to whether or not he could save her foot.  He did…..and we are delighted with this miracle.  Catherine is just now learning about the seriousness of her injury as she has become the TALK OF THE HOSPITAL.  People are coming up to see THE Catherine who is quite simply AMAZING.

Catherine is so brave and so determined to become not only healed, but also to become a stronger, new and improved version of her former self.  Throughout the trials and tribulations of a week at Johnston Willis, she has remained cheerful, cooperative, adventurous and funny as ever.  Rumor has it that she went shopping in the deserted cancer wing of the hospital – in her wheelchair – all alone – without the knowledge of the medical personnel.  Were they ever surprised to see her rolling down the hallways!

Today she let me take pictures!  I didn’t take a picture of Catherine herself – even though I thought she looked beautiful today – she was dressed and looked radiant.  I did get a picture of her hand!  I thought that I had given her a YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS, but John thought the Yellow Rose of Texas was really a cactus.  When he googled it we found out that neither of us were entirely correct!  Go GOOGLE it and see for yourself.

Catherine's hand holding a YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS

Some of Catherine's LOVE GIFTS

Not all of Catherine’s LOVE GIFTS are pictured…..Sandie made her some Neck Coolers which she keeps around her neck and there is also bouquet of Sunflowers not pictured – that became part of a PAY IT FORWARD story today.  Catherine has enjoyed the cards and numerous e-mails.  They really are uplifting…..and when you spend LONG DAYS AND NIGHTS in the hospital, being uplifted is a GOOD THING.

Catherine was graced with a wonderful bath and spa like massage this morning that was quite restorative.  She was so inspired by this nurse’s total being and sweetness that after hearing that she loved the beach and decorated her house in either snowmen or sunflowers [depending upon the season] she gifted the nurse with the sunflowers.  Isn’t this SO LIKE CATHERINE?    I loved the PAY IT FORWARD joy that she spread.

Here is another picture showing the colorful pillowcase made by Margaret.

Colorful Pillowcase Hanging on the SCOREBOARD

And speaking of scoreboard – look at all of Catherine’s GREAT MARKS on her report card – all earned in one day!

Catherine's REPORT CARD!

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Posted By drsao on May 17, 2009

Four of us met Saturday in the library for some “quiltin’, sharin’, and talkin'”……we had a nice time and the meeting room in the library was cool!!!!  Marla, Julia, sao, and the mystery lady (I didn’t get a picture of her face – but let’s see if you can guess who……she once made 50 napkins for Christmas gifts…….her husband is an associate pastor………and she just had a new darling little grandangel in April).

Here is a little bit of what we were doing on Saturday.  Check out the two pictures of quilts that Julia’s sister Janie made.  She is a MEGA QUILTER!

Look beyond the pictures to see who the mystery quilter is!  LOL

The Mystery Quilter is Cheryl!  Did you guess correctly?  She just completed a time management class and she learned to say NO….so this would not be a good time to ask her for a favor.  Julia tried to get her to serge her fleece blanket for her – but guess what the answer was……..NO!

Category: Memories in My Cabin, Midlothian Quilters, Quilter's Corners BOM | 1 Comment »
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Posted By drsao on May 10, 2009

Happy Mother’s Day to my mother…….(and to my daddy too).

My Parents

Christi

Lil and Shirley Anne

Jan with Collin and Jannae

I am so blessed.

I went out to dinner with my DD, Christi, my DSIL, Greg and three of my grandangels, Leanna, Sarah and Cooper  – we enjoyed a great meal at MIMIs…..now if we could ONLY talk them into coming up with another kid’s meal dessert – those DIRT PUDDINGS with GUMMY WORMS CRAWLING out just about sends me “to the moon” every time.   

The kids LOVE to add drama to the consumption of the creepy crawlers and of course I HAVE TO ACT HORRIFIED……little do they know,  I am NOT acting.  🙂 LOL  🙂

Christi, sao and the Midlothian Grandangels

Fun at MIMIs

The girls and Gma sao

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL OF THE OTHER MOTHERS OUT THERE WHO ARE MY MEMBERS OF MY FAMILY

AND WHO ARE FRIENDS WHO HAVE ENHANCED MY LIFE………

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Posted By drsao on May 10, 2009

Today was the big day – the IF I WERE A FLOWER CHALLENGE QUILTS were revealed.  I hope I got everyone’s quilts photographed; however I had a battery meltdown at one point.  We were all so amazed at the creativity of the members of our guild.  Although there were a few people who lost their seeds, or their flowers wilted, everyone else seemed to really enjoy the entire process. 🙂  Some people even made more than one quilt!  Very impressive.

Unfortunately after the meeting, while visiting the Powhatan Clothes Closet, Catherine fell down some stairs and broke her ankle and tore all of the ligaments in her leg.  She INSISTED that John take a picture of HER FOOT and me in the emergency room and that I take a picture of her nurse, Jason….and that I put it on my blog – because that is what happened at the END OF OUR DAY…..one we will never forget.  Even in Catherine’s journey through pain, her quick wit and sense of humor emerged.

Here are my pictures for today.  Remember to double click for larger pictures.

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Posted By drsao on May 10, 2009

Catherine e-mailed me to see if I were interested in an early morning breakfast before the Country Piecemaker’s Guild Meeting on Saturday…….I was.  She picked me up and off we went for our Sheetz Adventure……I love the breakfast choices there.  We were absolutely giddy with excitement.  The IF I WERE A FLOWER CHALLENGE MAGIC SHOW (Catherine’s name for it) was scheduled and we couldn’t wait to see the quilts!

Sheetz - MTO

Catherine at our PARK AND DINE

Look at how happy Catherine is – we drove to our PARK AND DINE parking lot so that we could take pictures of each other’s quilts against the backdrop of the “forest.”  We ate quickly – and even splurged with DONUTS…..yes we did!  Egg Sandwiches, Hash Browns and a DONUT.  OH MY!  And then the moment of the big REVEAL had arrived……

Catherine First

Look at how FANCY the back of her quilt is – she has furry embellishment on the sleeve on the back of her quilt.  She is so artistic and creative.

First = unpin the quilt from its noodle....

Ready? Too bad that I don't have RAPID FIRE PHOTOGRAPHY!

A MASTERPIECE......

If I Were a FlowHER......So imaginative

Look at the layers of embellishment – and in person you can see the little dew drop crystals and beads…..

The Detail is Fabulous

Catherine and the beautiful BACK of her quilt

Such touching words on the label....I cried.

Four Baskets - Four Children

In the baskets are my 17 grandangels….

The Back of my Quilt

My Label and my 3 paint chips

Each of us based the colors of our quilts on paint chips with names the same as our initials….my colors were S Sugar Beige……A Artic Night…….and O Oriental Red.  🙂

Catherine and I had so much fun sharing our quilts with each other.  $2.98 for the breakfast sandwich, $.50 for the donut, and spending time with a friend – PRICELESS.  The last line was Catherine’s.

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