Mom is Being Posthumously Honored for her Knitting

Mom's 5th Mother's Day in Heaven...

She no doubt is smiling proudly down from heaven because of the many views of her fabulous knitting!

Mom wrote in a letter from September 17, 1986 (my Maternal Grandma's B'day...) that she'd asked the lady from the yarn shop, for placement of her knitted bedspread at the Hiltho Exhibition.

Hiltho Exhibition is every 4 years since 1967, and is the biggest in the South of The Netherlands.
Mom had tried so hard for the Hiltho '86 exhibition from 26 September till 1 October... click link; then click through.
It just didn't work out for having her work displayed at the Hiltho... to have a booth there was too expensive for the yarn store!  But the store owner told her she should bring it for the coming winter, to have it as window display instead.

That's what happened and here my Mom is proudly standing in front of the shop's window with her beautiful work!
I'd forgotten that I too had knitted several squares, before immigrating to the USA...
Mom mentioned that in her letter!

This is Mom's letter, neatly handwritten as so many that I received over the years!
Mom was very happy with the offer to have it as window display instead.
She wrote that my sister-in-law Elly, brother Harry's wife, very dedicated was helping her getting all the knitting finished. Elly also had taken the squares apart and rejoined them in a different way, as she'd seen from one of the patients at the nursing home where she worked.

It was quite emotional for making these bedspread photos on February 21, 2014, before going to the hospital again for visiting Mom during her dialysis.
Deep inside I KNEW that this would also be the very last time I would see her alive...
My gut feeling proved to be right.

Less than a year later, I would be up all night and do Face Time with my youngest brother, who sat together with my 2nd brother, at Mom's bedside. Seeing, hearing Mom and talking to her for the very last time.
It was then when I did compose a beginning for a FAREWELL, or EULOGY, to be read...

*

Going Home...

Daddy, brothers and sisters, sisters-in-law and partner, nephews and nieces, family and friends...

We are together in warmth and gratitude to honor our Mother.

A dear wife, dedicated Mother for all of us. Her entire life she has given love with an enormous big heart; without asking much for herself.

This last trip of 17 days away from D'n Afhang, was a difficult route for her but she has accomplished it with pride. She wanted to go home with all her heart, for finally putting her tired head to rest close to Daddy, in her own beloved place, where 7 of her 8 children were born.

Eight children, of which I am the second and our eldest sister is now finally again with Mother!

She almost made it for being married to Daddy 66 years; in love and sorrow.

Working hard her entire life and yet in her way always trying to pamper us.

She was able to cook delicious tomato soup from own cultivation, with yummy fried onions. Her spare ribs with home-made tomato paste and fried onions were also a favorite.

Baking for the entire family she did also with much love and she herself was fond of ginger cake... 

She also loved nougat, that I always brought her back from the fun-fair!

She loved to knit and crochet and in the photo she proudly poses in front of the window where her large knitted bedspreads hung.

Together with Daddy she made trips to Germany, and also to Paris and even four times to Georgia in the USA. Proudly she always said she had two daughters in America; one in great America.

On the bike she often went to little America on Tuesday’s, on market day, with a gift for her first grandchild. 

Meanwhile Mom had passed away and that stopped my writing...

Never could finish it...

*
In Dutch:

Naar Huis...

Papa, broers en zussen, schoonzussen en partner, neefjes en nichtjes, vrienden...

We zijn bij elkaar in warmte en dankbaarheid ter ere van ons Moeke.

Een lieve echtgenote, toegewijde Moeke voor ons allemaal. Ze heeft met een enorm groot hart haar hele leven liefde geven; zonder veel voor zichzelf te vragen.

Deze laatste reis van 17 dagen weg van d'n Afhang was een moeilijke route voor haar maar ze heeft het met fierheid volbracht. Ze wilde met heel haar hart naar huis om daar op haar eigen geliefde plek, waar 7 van haar 8 kindjes geboren werden, haar moede hoofd eindelijk te rusten leggen dicht bij Papa. 

Acht kinderen, waarvan ik de tweede ben en onze oudste zus is nu eindelijk ook weer bij Moeke!

Bijna heeft ze het gered om met Papa 66 jaar getrouwd te zijn; door lief en leed.

Hard gewerkt haar hele leven en toch op haar manier altijd geprobeerd om ons te verwennen.

Ze kon lekkere tomatensoep koken van eigen teelt, met heerlijke gebakken uien. Ook haar ribjes met tomatenpuree en gebakken uien waren een lievelingskostje.

Bakken voor het hele gezin deed ze ook met veel liefde en zelf was ze dol op gemberkoek... 

Ze lustte ook zo graag nougat die ik haar altijd meebracht van de kermis!

Breien en haken deed ze graag en met trots staat ze op de foto voor de etalage waar haar grote gebreide bedsprei hing.

Met Papa samen maakte ze reisjes naar Duitsland en ook naar Parijs en zelfs vier keer naar Georgia in de USA. Trots zei ze altijd dat ze twéé dochters in America had; een in groot America.

Op de fiets ging ze vaak op dinsdag, markt dag, naar klein America om haar eerste kleinkind weer iets toe te stoppen. 

Ondertussen is Moeke gestorven en kon ik niet meer verder schrijven...
Helaas heb ik het nooit afgekregen...

*

This year, on my Angel Sister's heavenly Birthday, I noticed a tremendous increase in views for Mom's hand knitted bedspread, on my Pinterest.

January 11, 2019... Mom's Bedspread was at the TOP!

Hard to believe these figures, yet it was there and on my blog, almost every day, Mom's picture was in the sideline as one of the favorite posts!

Love seeing this photo...

Mom ranks right there in my TOP blog posts and that in only five years!

It made me so happy and feeling oh so proud of her for being Posthumously Honored for her Knitting!!!

*

Happy Mother's Day!

Related link:
{Mom's Hand Knitted Bedspread as Window Display} | previous post by me
{HAPPY Mom on her 90th Birthday - THANKS TO ALL OF YOU} | previous post by me, when I took the bedspread photos...

REVUE 2017 with our CHOIR & Memories of MOM

On May 6 we did perform for the REVUE 2017 with our Choir at the local theatre, together with 3 younger girl choirs; Mockingbirds, Hummingbirds and Knightingales.

We are called the Empty Nesters, the Knight Owls and all under the leading of Kelly Knight.

Dublin: Women of all ages sing together as Knightengales click the hyperlink.

For me it was the very FIRST time to participate with those Empty Nesters and some of them performed 6 times already.

Here above we are dressed up for our Song: FEVER

It is singing and dancing...

REVUE 2017 We Are Strong click link to complete video from TV35 WDIG

At Minute: 10:46 you find our song: FEVER

Husband Pieter did snap this photo from me in my FEVER outfit, before I left for the Matinee performance at 2:00 PM and again at 7:00 PM.
Wearing my Escada silk blouse with Red Roses over new black Wolford leggings that arrived by special courier.
For the actual performance I wore these Chanel shoes with low heel...
Silver & Gold set of jewelry from TANE, México City, the Tiffany of Mexico.
Those are the special things we found during our time of Consulting when staying at the Camino Hotel Polanco Mexico.
They had great boutiques!
Necklace, bracelet, earrings and ring.

My spot was top left, on the risers.
Here we sing: HOME, which is visible at minute: 42.14 on the Youtube video.
For this song some ladies just had toned down their outfit; no boa, shimmery top or hat...

WOW, here we all turned into ROCK STARS by singing: JOURNEY at minute: 1:02:00 on the Youtube video.
Well, on Tuesday May 2nd during rehearsal at the theatre, on the risers, I did fall off towards the end.
I had practiced all my steps at home, in front of my Mac's full screen with video and on the solid oak plank floor of our office...
Boy did I have to reprogram my brain for making tiny baby-steps on the narrow risers!
Nothing broken, only my left thumb got bruised, my right underarm and feet.

So for that purpose of having to perform on the risers, I did NOT wear these Escada sandals...
Top is a bargain from Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5th.
A Karl Lagerfeld cropped top with a leather look rose appliqué and buttons with roses.
Coming close to the desired look of Leather Moto Jackets and jeans.
Thinking about Singing, I know in my heart that my Mom would have been so proud of her eldest daughter performing as a 1st soprano, just like she did for decades!
And Mom was wearing the perfect outfit for JOURNEY when her photo was taken here in Macon, Georgia in 1996...

Missing her once again around this Mother's Day but I could certainly feel her presence.
She is always near and safely in heaven with my eldest sister!

Right after we performed JOURNEY, we moved closer together for performing our final song: WHEN I FALL IN LOVE

The ending of WHEN I FALL IN LOVE... (made popular by Doris Day).
Husband Pieter did enjoy the evening performance and I will one day watch the entire video of almost 2 hours.
What a special gift from one of Dublin's Talented Ladies that had the vision for teaching young girls for 20 years now! 
What an impact it has had on our community and it taught them so much more than just singing!
So many young girls benefited from being taught confidence, poise, grace and expression!
Well, we, the 'mature girls' did also learn so much.

And the audience loved it!

Could not believe this incredible deal when I received my email notification from Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5th.
Only US $ 39.99 so I snatched that up right away!

You'll dazzle in this glossy textured cropped top...

Love this fashion score!

Hope you enjoyed this little mention.
We are off now for 3 months, without any rehearsals and certainly look forward to starting again with this fun group!

Thank you for your visit!

Related links:

Journey - Don't Stop Believin' (Live in Houston) - Youtube video with 44 million views!

Journey - Faithfully (Official Video) - Youtube video with 67 million views!
Journey - Any Way You Want It - Youtube video with 21 million views!

{Mom Did Wear Many Hats} | previous post by me

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{Mom Did Wear Many Hats}

Indeed, during her lifetime, Mom did wear many hats.

She was above all a loving Mom, a devoted and submissive wife, a cook, a seamstress, a great housekeeper, and a very hard working partner working in the greenhouses and on the fields; harvesting vegetables and fruits.

The list could go on and on...

For readers from foreign countries who are maybe not familiar with the English saying of 'Wearing many hats', it means a person has different roles or tasks to perform.

Just because Mom made MANY sacrifices during her life time, being a Mom to a large family of 8, of which 7 survived, she NEVER could go on vacation.

So it was a joy for offering her four times this luxury for being able to fly off, across the Atlantic Ocean from The Netherlands to Georgia, USA.

Dad did come a total of six times and Pieter and I did pay for six of their ten roundtrip plane tickets. 

Mom & Dad have been escorted on March 20, 1996 by a dear friend of us who also was flying back from the Netherlands to Atlanta, Georgia!

The very first time, in April of 1987, they flew over together with both of us.

This photo was taken two days after she arrived in 1996.

Mom did not have to cook, clean, launder or do anything.

That is visible in her face; feeling very happy and pampered.

Mom was taken by the lady that gathered outfits for her, and who also did her hair and put lipstick on.

Meanwhile the clever photographer asked me to jot down some basic words in Dutch, for him to use - like 'chin up' - smile etc.

Mom LOVED it that he spoke her language and was so happy about the 'ease' of working with this clever guy. It is quite noticeable in these photos.

She even looks a bit mischievous in my opinion...

Both trips I took alone with Mom, just Mother & Daughter, for having those Glamour shots made and one week later, on April 4, to pick up the one photo that we selected on a computer screen, with several smal ones.
The above photos are taken from small sizes.
When we got home with our photos, Dad was very amazed and had to look at them, over and over...

In my leather bound journal I wrote on Tuesday, April 16 of 1996 that in the evening our friends arrived for coffee with dessert as a farewell to Mom & Dad.
The hit of the evening was my Mom with her Glamour shots!
They found she looked like a movie star and Uncle Bo found Mom now very worth while instead of another 'Mariet'...
Everyone found she also looked younger now than in 1987.
Dad got very quiet... he always had been used to being the center of attention, especially when he sang a solo as a first tenor.
It was great that Mom for once was the center of attention!

Next day we had one last breakfast together and drove to Atlanta to check in World Business class on our courtesy card with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
They were even that courteous for letting all four of us into the shared Lufthansa lounge.
Than came a very emotional goodbye, especially Mom was tearful.
The day before she mentioned that those photos were the most beautiful gift she'd ever received...
I did listen to her video tape where she did mention it at the end of that evening with our friends.
She was so very happy.
Fond memories around Mother's Day!

Yes, I too had one photo taken during that session with Mom...
 ~
Mom used to wear always a hat to Church when I was a girl, there still was a real millinery in my home town where I loved to peak inside the window.
Maybe that's where my fondness of hats originated from.
At least these pictures do remind me of my Mom when I was a girl.
Hope you enjoyed them too.
Wishing all those that still are fortunate to have their Mom around, a very Happy Mother's Day and also to those that are a Mom themselves.
For each of us it is a day filled with memories, that live inside our hearts forever.
I have been blessed with a sweet Mom and today when I watched the video, I've laughed a lot; so many fun things with lots of humor too.

Here this photo was taken by my Dad as I mostly video taped things.
Mom is waving goodbye, from the Chattanooga Choo Choo, a train in Tennessee from 1880.
So many farewells, for the 4 times that Mom came to the US and for the 64 times that we came to The Netherlands...

This is just 6 months after Mom & Dad went home and we went to Church in the morning, made this photo and than left for the airport on our 42nd trip to The Netherlands.
Me, looking happy for getting to see my Mom again!

Until it was that one final time...

They are not gone who live in the hearts of those they leave behind.

- Native American Saying

{Mom Lived 16 Days Short of Her 91st Birthday} showing Mom's writing in our guest book

{Mother's Day & Pelargonium Childhood Memories}

On April 12, before we did go on our trip to Florida, all the potted plants came out of the greenhouse. Our Pelargonium were already blooming inside the greenhouse so I filled a vase full. Instant memories came back to mind about my Mom and it is quite appropriate to post this for Mother's day. 

Join me for a Garden Tour.

When I stood there with the beautiful salmon red and white geraniums in my hands, all of a sudden by its very smell I went back to my early childhood...

Are they not lovely? Well, I wish you too could pick up its typical geranium scent. Because of that, I did travel back in time... to The Netherlands.

Here I am, a little girl of maybe four or five years old, watching Mom cleaning our windows. The house had narrow tall windows with smaller panes inside and they were being opened from the center by pulling down a shiny brass handle so they came inwards into the room... There were indoor shutters to close for privacy and a rather wide window sill on which Mom kept her prized red geraniums. They could remain between the window and the shutters, once they got closed, there was enough space.

At times the condensation did make the windows all wet and water had to run down into a special carved out mini-gutter which had one rounded opening in the center, that let the water out through the wall outward. At times we had to poke the hole free of some dirt or a fly that got trapped in there, using a knitting needle... We were quite inventive at that time!

Watching Mom do the window treatment was quite something! She used water with vinegar in it, a sponge (a real one from the ocean which vendors sold door to door at that time!) and a chamois. The geraniums were taken down and were put on the table, making the scent fill the air even more so by the movements. Mom also vigorously did polish the brass handle of each window with Brasso. Yes, Brasso we were accustomed to in the Old World as well - at least this remained the same after immigrating! I still can sniff all these special scents of the vinegar in the water, the sour smell of the Brasso used on a cotton cloth and then the geraniums... oh I just LOVED them!

They will stay deeply engraved into my memory forever and that's why they live with us still today.

Wishing you all a Happy Mother's Day with fond memories too!
Too far for me to visit Mom, but we've visited her 63 times; so no regrets so far...

{French Country Style Lavender Sachet WINNER}

Sorry that I did not post this right away after midnight of May 1st, but I was not feeling too well for working it all out. So here it is... Out of 42 chances I've selected ONE! Who is she??? Let's have a look at what she gets, first! From my blog on April 16 for Worldwide GIVEAWAY of French Country Style Lavender Sachet you can see the beautiful item here below...

Well, I can certainly see why several bloggers list a sign on their side-bar stating: This is an Award Free blog... It is quite some work but I don't mind doing this for loyal followers and readers and foremost for helping others to get some traffic too.

By the way, one of my participants was Brigitta from Creative Chaos and she's having difficulties in guiding her previous followers to her new blog. If you please would stop by and renew your following status with her; that would make her quite happy!

Now...

# 21 was Ginger from Savannah Granny so the French Country Style Lavender Sachet does not even leave the state of Georgia; what a coincidence!

Congratulations Ginger for liking me on Facebook with the button on my side-bar and for placing my button on your blog and of course you already did follow me.

Hope you enjoy it for Mother's Day!