by the Carpenter
I think this has been my longest writing dry spell….
Not sure where to start.
Through mid winter to early summer we were at the Modern Farm house project. The Artist has kept you in touch with all of that. We are moving on to new things. I do already miss the interaction we had on a daily basis with the family. It was a good job and hopefully more will be generated from it. Loved working on the beach of in my opinion the most beautiful lake in the Twin Cities.
Onward and upward as they say.
Our next projects are not as large as the last, but just the same, work is work. It does not matter what the projects are, we put the same effort forth every time. That’s what I have tried to instill into the crew for a long time. It doesn’t matter what the job or who the customer is, it’s the most important job and the most important customer. Period! We may not always be able to start your project at the time we discussed in the beginning planning stages, but that’s because we always finish strong to end a job right. That means when we are finishing your job, we are not pulling off just to start something else. We will finish strong.
A couple of other things have taken our time of late also. The Artist's mom passed away on July 5th. Somewhat of a surprise, somewhat not. I know she has talked about this in other posts so I won't repeat what has already been said. I do however want to honor her in my own way. It has been difficult for over 36 years to have a relationship with my in-laws at 1200 miles away. Distance does make a huge difference. A lot of guys would say it would be great to be that far away from their mother-in-law.
I never thought that.
Her and I always had a connection. Now I didn’t get out to PA a lot over the years. 10-12 times maybe since 1980, but it didn’t matter. I always got a big smile, some with tears, always a big hug and always, always a cheerful “how are you”? She really wanted to know. It wasn’t a veiled question just to ask. She really wanted to know how I was. I always appreciated that about her.
She introduced me to iced coffee with heavy cream and sugar. The best drink in the world. A couple weeks ago I made some for myself. I found myself in mid stir, getting emotional thinking about her, realizing that with all that has been going on in our lives, I never really grieved for her, really still haven’t. I’m sure it will happen.
She introduced me to New Hampshire. We were able to get there twice over the years. That was her teen, and adult years vacation land. She was thrilled each time we got there. The "Man on the Mountain", "Polly’s Pancake House", "Rattlesnake Mountain", "On Golden Pond" (Squam Lake), and my first hurricane. Memories that have become even more important now that she is gone.
She introduced me to miniature schnauzers…enough said!
She wasn’t a smoochie touchy feely type of person, but you knew she loved you. You knew by her smile, her greeting, her meals she made for you. Her concern for when you worked long hours, her willingness to mold herself to know what interested you and learn about it. She liked to be your cheerleader.
I regret not being out there for over 3 years before she died. I am thankful that I was out there 3 years ago to spend Thanksgiving with her while she was able to enjoy us as much as we enjoyed being there.
Mom, you are missed. Thank you for all you meant to me. The cool thing is, we will meet again. See you then!
