Bye For Now, Mom

 

Very sadly…

my mother has passed, 

but I take comfort in knowing she is reunited with my Dad, 

who passed 4 years earlier.

And I can only imagine their reunion…

“Alice, my darling Alice May,  I have missed you so. 

It feels so good to hug you again. 

A lot of our dear friends and family are here.  

They look forward to seeing you and we all have the biggest party planned.

I think you are gonna like our new home.  

It truly is a slice of heaven.  

After all our moves through the years, 

this final resting place couldn't be more perfect.  

Feel free to rearrange the furniture…

I know how much you like to do that. 

And guess what, my back doesn’t hurt anymore so I can help you.

I’ve missed you over the past 4 years, 

but happy you had time to be with our family. 

Our 4 children, 4 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren 

are our greatest pride

and I'm glad you could enjoy good times with them.

You will see how terribly sad they are now 

that you are no longer with them 

and 

you will feel the depth of their love for you.  

Over time, they will be able to think of you without crying.

You will find that you have no memory issues here.  

Your memory is now sharp as a tack so  

you will easily remember names, things, and places.

All of your memories will be crystal clear...

memories of fun with your family and friends... 

your mom playing the piano,  

days at Bacon Acres, swimming in Lake Champlain,

moving around the states/world with our family. 

You will remember it all.

Your hearing and vision will be perfect 

and 

you’ll have enough energy to do whatever you want.  

I look forward to cutting a rug with you like the good ol' days.

Age means nothing here.  We have eternal life.  

And you won’t feel any pain at all.  

Pain, suffering and worry are gone forever.

Alice, my darling Alice May, 

take my hand…

here we go."

Anywhooo….

As much as I have missed my Father and now my dear sweet Mother…

knowing that they are together in the Kingdom of Heaven brings me comfort.  

Our time here is finite, 

but we live forever 

in the hearts and minds of those who love us.  

It’s been hard to say goodbye to my mom…

the woman who brought me into this world 

and loved me

 and my brother and sisters wholeheartedly.  

That’s the thing about true love.

True love hurts.  

Bye for now, Mom.

“Bye for now”…

the way my mom would say goodbye to me.

40 Years Hand-in-Hand

 

Happy 40th Anniversary to my husband,

PaulA,

the guy who still

floats my boat,

melts my heart,

lights my fire,

and

holds my hand.

40 years ago…

Hand-in-hand 

we said "I do" 

and walked down the aisle towards a 

beautiful life together.

Hand-in-hand 

we danced every anniversary 

(with me donned in my wedding dress) 

to our song “Something So Right”.

Hand-in-hand…

we welcomed our 3 children into the world.

Hand-in-hand 

we have lived and loved... 

through years of a growing family

and now grandchildren.

Anywhooo….

40 years might seem like a long time, 

but it just isn’t long enough 

when it comes to being married to PaulA.  

We are so grateful to God that he agreed

and gifted us this anniversary.

With God's hand, 

we were granted this beautiful day 

to be with 

each other

hand-in-hand.

Happy 30th Birthday Brianna

 

Happy Birthday Brianna

and

Happy BriDay 

to PaulA, Chelsea, Colin and me.

30 years ago today, 

this perfect baby doll joined the Healy rank and file. 

Brianna completed our squad...

and 

and graced our lives. Forever.

All for one, one for all...

The Three Musketeers… were formed.

There might be other great 3 combinations..

Moe, Larry and Curly...okay

Huey, Dewey and Louie...maybe

Chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker…yes please

But come on…

these 3

are hard to beat. 

Anywhoooo…..

As fun as it is to look back and remember 

the good ole days, 

a look forward for Brianna is even better…. 

with more good ole days to come.

With her wedding in less than a year, 

our Bride-to-Bri

will marry her best friend, Christian. 

Along with the love they share...

they share a love of 

travel, adventure, friends, breweries, hikes, workouts, Mary Lou’s, 

and Manomet…

working on their music genres tho😉

Just as Bri rounded out our infamous trio….

she put the grand in our slam for our family.

Boom

Brianna is definitely the

rare blue piece of sea glass 

that you hope, upon hope, you find

to complete what we call a "grand slam" during a beach walk…

a clear, brown, blue and green.

And just like that 

God put her there…

right in our hands. 

And we thank him every day for that.

Happy 30th Birthday to our Brianna...

a babe 

since birth…

                                                          

                                                      💖

Serving Sizes Out of Hand

 

What's the deal 

with serving sizes that are smaller than 

one human 

would consume in

one sitting?   

You’ve seen them…a bag of Doritos….

11 servings???

Not in this house.

The other day 

I bought  a box of 

Haagan-Dazs ice cream bars.

The serving size was listed at 1 bar  

which is reasonable...

at least it wasn’t half a bar.

But the best is…

 Haagan-Dazs also showed the "nutrition" 

 for all 3 bars….

which was speaking to me.

They made 3 bars a viable option.  

I gotta send Haagan-Dazs a little love here...

"Dear Haagan-Dazs,

Over the years,

I must admit I've been a loyal Ben and Jerry's fan...

especially being from the great state of Vermont

and loving cows and all...

but 

those days are 

no moo.

Now its’ you.  Only you.  

 

You had me at 3 bars." 

-Kat

Anywhoooo…..

"They" say 

your hand is a good measuring device for serving size. 

I know first hand, this is not the case because 

not all hands are created equal.  

My hand is on the small serving size, 

especially compared to PaulA’s.

Other than it being handy...

I can't get behind

 using my hand to measure 

serving sizes...

I prefer my face.

A cookie as big as my face.

This is a serving size 

I can get behind.

I married his H2O bed

When you marry someone, 

you marry everything that comes with them. 

You know THE vows... 

"in sickness and in health, 

in holey blue t-shirt and 

ugggly brown chair." 

Your spouse's favorite stuff is part of them. 
It's a package deal.

So when I married PaulA...
I married his waterbed. 

aka the H2O bed

(The Periodic Table of Elements is one of my favorite things.)

When we moved to Jacksonville, FL, 

I suggested leaving the H2O bed behind.

That idea, however, was dead in the water
as soon as I mentioned it.

Man Overboard! 

You would have thought I suggested...

stabbing it with scissors and having it die a slow leak.

I decided to not make waves...

so 
the H2O bed moved with us.

Get a hose. Fill 'er up.

Anywhoo.....

I eventually learned to sleep on the high seas. 

When PaulA would roll over and create a 3-foot wave, 

I learned to move with the wave and not fight it. 

Sometimes the undertow would take me back out and 

I'd go completely under 

and resurface; 

gasping for air. 

But that just happened maybe once or twice.

Over time I learned the advantage and power of the big wave. 

The H2O bed was especially helpful when I was pregnant. 

When I was so large that getting out of bed became difficult, 

PaulA would start a wave from his side 

and I would ride that wave out of bed. 

Hang 10.

But alas...

when we moved from Jacksonville to St. Louis,

the idea of another H2O bed move was 

dead in the water with me.
Come hell or high water 

the H2O bed was not making the journey.

I'm not sure if H2O beds are popular anymore...

or it was just a fad back in the day,

but I like remembering ...

my cute lifeguard,
PaulA

and his H2O bed.

Happy Colintine's Day

When Colin was born,

a day known for flowers and candy, 

instantly morphed into 

a day of balloons and cake.🎈🎂

Valentine's Day

heartily became 

Colintine's Day.

On that early February 14th morning...

with a cuddle and a kiss,

Colin 

(all 8 pounds 15 ounces of him)

had

stolen my heart…

which is why the song “Stolen” by Dashboard Confessional 

was an easy pick for our mother/son dance at his wedding reception.

I'm remembering... 

middle school Colin

 listening to

Dashboard Confessional in his room

of posters and banners

and 

this Kat, 

sitting there listening with him...

never thinking that one day "Stolen" would be our 

Mother/Son song at his wedding. 

And this memory snapshot:

Colin and I are

at Westfarms Mall in West Hartford, CT 

when Colin looks over the 2nd floor railing and 

sees Chris Carraba -

emo Dashboard Confessional himself.

Colin excitedly asks me for a pen and paper to get his autograph.  

After quickly digging around my purse 

all I come up with 

is a promotion for a Macy’s credit card…

(which apparently works in a pinch)

he grabs it, runs down the escalator and 

nabs Chris Carabba’s treasured autograph.  

"Hands Down "

best day ever.

Dancing to Chris Carraba’s song “Stolen” at his reception…

was a 

full circle moment…

for both of us.

I can't help but feel ultra emo-tional today

thinking about my little boy

who has grown into

the amazing young man and loving son he is today.

Anywhoooo…

Colin turns 33 today

and just like the 

33 records

I used to play in my hey day...

he's got grooves

@ctgrooves.

Memories of Colin through the years

play like a soundtrack in my head...

playing all the hits.

I wanna go on record 

that Colin has been the best son

a mom could ever ask for.

What hits will Colin be playing on his next 

33?

May they be

music to his ears.

Drop the needle 

and

let's celebrate.

Happy Birthday Colin

I hope 

33

is a 

record

year for you.