My Sister and Her Husband

I've been on "auto pilot" for the last few weeks.  My sister (90) and her husband (91) passed away within a few hours of each other on June 13th.  They had been married over 67 years and had met in third grade.  What an amazing life they led...Their memorial service was beautifully planned, with their grandsons reading the Eulogy and several of my brother-in-law's cousins telling stories of when they were young.  My niece and her daughter designed and arranged several hundred pictures that were gathered and chosen by family members to be displayed at the memorial service.  The displays were created with white bulletin boards covered in burlap and twine attached to the back and strung across the front.  The pictures were attached with small wooden clothespins.   My nephews were in charge of choosing the slides that were shown on a couple of large screens during the gathering. The slides ran continuously.  As children, we always loved sitting down to an evening of watching slides.  One nephew found a large poster that represented how my sister and her husband lived their lives.

  

Poster found by their son and displayed at Celebration of Life gathering

Here is a Bulletin Board showing some of the small quilts my sister had made and given to me through the years.....

Small quilts made by my sister and given to me as gifts

My sister loved to sew, quilt, waterski, go camping with family, make cakes for her grandchildren and great grandchildren. 

To left; Decorated Cakes--To right; Halloween Costumes--Center on table;Camping

Their love of sailing was a dream which she and her husband fulfilled.  They began by reading every book in their local library about sailing.  My brother-in-law built his own El Toro sailboat.  After selling their house in the late 1960's, they moved onto their new 36 foot sailboat.  They lived aboard their sailboat for 7 years.
After my nephews had all graduated from high school and my sister and her husband retired, they began their journey.  They sailed down the Pacific coastline, through the Mexican Riviera, Central America, and through the Panama Canal to the Caribbean Sea.  They made a special trip to the San Blas Islands and visited with the Kuna Indians as they watched them create their special Molas.  They traveled to these special islands with another couple.  My sister and her friend purchased many molas.  I must admit, I always dreamed of having a mola, knowing that my sister had been to those Islands.  Here is the one I chose.....

Mola from San Blas Islands mid 1970's

 I guess I will write about my Bonnie Hunter class that I took on Saturday, July 2nd on another day this week.