Catching up on Mail Art + a little workshop

#110

#111

#112

At Main Library

Workshop participants

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Mom is 100 today!

 
Today is my Mother's 100th birthday. 

Estelle has outlived her husband and all of her sisters.
She always said that she wanted to live to be 100 and she made it.

She was 18 in the photo upper left, and there she is with her parents and sisters. She was the oldest of the girls.

Here's Mom in 2008, she was seeing me off at the Van Nuys bus terminal where I was taking the bus to LAX to catch a flight home.  She's changed a bit from her 18 year old portrait but still smiling!








And here's mom in 2010, knitting scarves. She knit sooo many that we could hardly keep her in yarn. 

She knit, she sewed clothing, she was a voracious reader.

Here's one of my favorite childhood memories - I may have mentioned this before. We walked to the Legler branch of the Chicago library, which was only a little over a mile from our apartment, but to me, as a child it was so far away. To keep my attention on our goal,  my mother would say "we're going to get free books, isn't that wonderful?" And on the way back, with me carrying a couple of books under my arm, more in my sister's carriage, she'd say "Aren't we lucky, we've got free books to read?" Later, I'd walk by myself or with friends, always thinking how lucky I was to be able to have free books to read. And guess what? I'm a voracious reader, something that I've passed along to my own children. Thanks, Mom.

 

Books for Soldiers

For awhile, I've been an official volunteer with Books for Soldiers. It's been very satisfying to send out flat rate boxes filled with books, snacks, and other necessities, like pens, shampoo, soap, for our troops. Friends give me books or I buy them at my used book store or branch library (for very little money.) I do this out of frustration with a war that I couldn't prevent, to support those who are over there fighting, in hopes that somehow, I'm promoting peace in someone's heart. This feels more supportive than forwarding an e-mail. I never expect to hear from any one that I send a box to, I know they're busy, and pens and stationery might not be available, but today I got a letter of thanks. It brought tears to my eyes. It was so sweet and so appreciative. If you want to do something meaningful, no matter how you feel about this war we're in, join the volunteers at Books for Soldiers. I go to the section called Forgotten Soldier and choose my recipient from that list. I don't always send a package. Sometimes, I send postcards or a note. Please think about joining me as an Official Volunteer. For the cost of a stamp you can do something really good.

Bercy Village

Chuck was reading the Rick Steves' book someone left here and found that there was a little shopping area east of our neighborhood. It had been warehouses and such. We took two metros to get there, including line 14, which is very fast, driveless, and has some unique stations. The metro exits directly in front of the "village." It turned out to be across the Seine from the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
We enjoyed walking, looking in little shops, having lunch at a very French cafe, among only French people. No English speaking people seemed to be there. We treated ourselves to cookies, nougats & caramels from a cute little shop.