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Monday, June 1, 2020

Missing Family

Just checked the calendar date and it's June 1 — already 😲 

Like so many fellow bloggers and people everywhere we miss seeing others — which includes neighbors, friends but most of all family members, especially the youngest ones, including two we've met once and one we've haven't met yet

Two grandchildren live only 90 minutes away. Both are nearly completed with their school classes for this year. We're hoping to see them in July for granddaughter and grandpa's birthdays.
The youngest granddaughter lives 6 hours from NH. Her mother provided these photos of her opening a recent package from us. Colorforms are always popular even with parents. This package included a couple favorite Disney characters. 
Our great nieces, Autumn Rose and Savannah Marie, born 2 weeks apart last October, are 7 months old. Autumn and her parents posed for a series of portraits taken recently on the steps of their residence.
Autumn's headful of curly dark hair is definitely after both her parents. Her 7-month "stats" are visible on the chalkboard below; according to her mom, walking may be added in a future update.
Savannah lives in FL, with her parents, Jamie and Mike and her family is doing well.
The next celebratable U.S. holiday is Father's Day, June 21. Once again families will self-celebrate this day. 

We visited with our family members after Christmas 2019 via a post-holiday road trip and plan to repeat these multi-state visits once it's safe to travel. Some states, including our home state of NJ, still are requesting out-of-state visitors to refrain from entering. The same applies for some New England states.

When I started this post last week, we didn’t know that there was one very special family member who we would not see on any future trips. Last Thursday, Patrick's aunt Anita passed away in CT. Due to self-isolation/quarantine measures we were unable to visit in recent weeks. We kept in contact through phone calls, the most recent was days before her passing.

Anita (mother, grandmother, aunt) was the matriarch of her family and survived her parents and siblings. Family meant everything to her and she meant everything to family. She was a very special woman; her life was well-lived and well-loved.
She most enjoyed and dearly loved walking on beaches anywhere, especially those near her CT home. A celebration of life will be held there when family can meet together.

Until we can safely visit, we remain in touch through calls, emails and videos —everyone is doing well. 
We hope you've been able to do the same with your family. Always end a call with ❤️

29 comments:

Marcia said...

A lovely assemblage of family faces. Isolation is tough on family gatherings.
I'm one of 6 and Dan 1 of 4 and it's likely we won't be seeing any of them before our move. Plus the move takes us farther away from all of them. Dan's mother is still living and there's a hope we can at least have her come out on her balcony while we stand below to see her. She's a retirement community in VA.

Laurel Wood said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

It's nice that you two are so close to your family, whether immediate or extended). I can hardly believe how big Bobby and Ellie haven't gotten!!! YIKES...time flies fast as we age!!...:)jp

Vee said...

So many precious folks whom you miss. I am sorry for the loss of an auntie in recent days. Such odd times and I pray for them to be over.

Anvilcloud said...

Thankfully Sha and the kids are close, even if we can't hold them close. :)

Sorry about Anita.

MadSnapper said...

Awesome photos of your whole family! I can't believe how much those babies have grown and how beautiful they are now and also how much all of your grandchildren have grown into little people no longer babies. You are blessed with a beautiful family and so glad you're keeping in touch with them during this chaos

baili said...

dear Dorothy it seemed i just wandered in a beautiful garden filled with so many gorgeous flowers :)))

these precious lovely faces reflects life and happiness indeed :)

may they always be blessed with joy health and prosperity amen!
i am sorry about Patrick's aunt .may she rest in peace
this is sad crucial reality that due to lockdown many patients are unable to get back to their normal check up routine which is dangerous for so many
more joy to your beautiful world my friend!

mamasmercantile said...

Sincere condolences on the loss of Anita and congratulations on all the wonderful additions. Hopefully you will be able to catch up with your family as soon as it is safe. I know we are looking to make plans as soon as it is safe. Take care.

jennyfreckles said...

So sorry for your loss, made even harder by the quarantine measures. I'm missing family too, though much smaller than yours. Thank goodness for photos and videos! Your little ones look so sweet.

Edna B said...

I'm so sorry for the loss of your Aunt Anita. In the photos, she looks very loved. You have a beautiful family. I know how hard it is not to be able to be with them in person. Thank goodness for phones, texts and videos. You have a Blessed day, hugs, Edna B.

Jon said...

Mere words seem futile during times of loss, but my thoughts of condolence are with you and your family. The photos reveal that Aunt Anita was a sweet and special lady.
A beautiful and poignant post.

David said...

Beatrice, Nice collection of family photos! We're keeping in touch with our son and his family in Omaha via photos and phone. Father's Day and my birthday will be celebrated long distance too... We do have visitors coming this month, all of whom have stayed away from others, worn masks and who have socially distanced. Sad for the loss of your family matriarch! It did remind me that I am the family patriarch for my parent's lineage. Where does time go! Stay Safe and Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Christina said...

Lovely to have so many young children in the family! Both my husband's and my families live far far away and we are all really bad with keeping in touch. I don't usually think too much about our slightly strange family relationships but seeing all those happy faces in your family made me a bit sad for my own lack of strong family ties. I am very sorry to hear about Anita's death, you are in my thoughts.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

We don't have children or grandchildren living close, so we do not see them regularly even in normal times, but we stay in touch, mainly by Facetime. Actually the two oldest grandchildren are young men now, with their own lives, and we have little contact with them. One doesn't even live in the same province any more.

Tanza Erlambang said...

glad to see photos of assembling family with smile and happy faces.

# Stay safe, healthy and virus free

Doris said...

Those babies are adorable! It will be so wonderful when we can all connect with our loved ones once again, won't it? We are waiting too. So sorry you've had to say goodbye to your beloved aunt from a distance! That's extremely hard.
Take care! (I know you are ♥)

Emma Springfield said...

It is so hard to not be able to visit with loved ones in person. I am grateful for sending pictures over the phone and also that little ones are used to talking on the phone.

DUTA said...

My sincere ondolences on the loss of your aunt Anita!
Wishing you a happy reunion with the younger members of your lovely family displayed in the above photos!

Tara said...

Such beautiful children, all. It's good to hear that everyone is doing well and it's great that you can stay in touch with technology. My grands live 1.5 miles away and I can't see them!!

So sorry about Anita. Sounds as if she had a grand life, indeed. She will be well remembered by all in the family, I'm sure. My husband died in January, and luckily it was before shelter in place so I was able to be with him in the skilled nursing unit. My anguish would have been multiplied if I were not allowed to be with him. My heart aches for everyone who has lost a loved one since March.

Continue to be well, and enjoy your long distance relationship with those darling children!

Ron said...

Okay, first I have to say that your family is SO good-looking! And OMG...those little babies are ADORABLE! I love the little guy sitting on dad Dennis's lap. What cute little face!

The black and white composite photo is beautiful! I love how B/W photographs look.

So sorry to hear about Aunt Anita. My mother passed away with cancer back in 2012 after she went through a period of remission. She was only 71. I miss her dearly.

My family is all over the place, so we don't see each other often. It's really getting together with my friends that I miss. I can't wait for the day when we can go out for a cup of coffee and sit a table and just talk in person, instead of texting each other.

Thanks so much for sharing your family with us. Enjoyed this post immensely!

Have a grrrrreat week!

Rita said...

What a lovely post. I think we are all missing family. You have a very large and growing one to miss. Loved seeing all the photos! Sounds like Anita was a wonderful woman and she'll be missed.

Bill said...

Family photos are priceless and bring back lots of memories and stories.

Buttercup said...

I'm so sorry about Aunt Anita's passing. Love New London. My great-aunt had a house there and spent many happy hours there. Great Memories! Love seeing the pictures of your beautiful little ones. Love, love, love the baby pictures. As celebrations go by -- today was a dear, dear friend's birthday -- and we end our wishes with "Next year in person." Take care!

Nil @ The Little House by the Lake said...

I'm so sorry to hear about your aunt's passing.

It's very difficult not seeing loved ones.
I hope you will soon be able to see the grand kids. They grow fast, don't they? :)

My name is Erika. said...

It is hard, isn't it? Especially with good friends and family. You have such a lovely family and so many people too. MY family isn't very large. But my mom is now covid negative-hurrah. And you asked if that photo in my post was me, no, it is my friend. Hopefully soon we can see people without all this worry. Even if you can't be close. Take care. And be strong. WE can do this, can't we? Hugs-Erika

DeniseinVA said...

Heartfelt condolences for the passing of Aunt Anita. She must have been a wonderful lady and the photos show a very loving lady. We lost a dear friend recently and will be going to a service down south when life enables us all to get together again. All your family photos are wonderful, and the children are so sweet. I hope it won't be long before you can all meet up again.

Jeanie said...

you have a beautiful family and I hope you will be able to see all or at least some of them soon. I feel that, too. Same here (just not as many!).

I'm so sorry for Anita's passing and send you many wishes for peace and healing. It's hard, isn't it, not being able to say goodbye.

Connie said...

So sorry for your loss. We are trying to stay in touch with family with phone calls, text messages, and video chats too. These are wonderful family photos. The ones of grandchildren are especially sweet.

L. D. said...

You are blessed with so much family. The pictures just kept coming as I was looking at them all. Facetime gives us some time with the grand kids but we are really seeing them grow up. We have three wonderful grandchildren but we really are not going to get to know them very well. You have a lot of grandkids with parents and they gave your great shots.