A Peace of Amy: 2012

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

A Little Blog Vacation

I haven't written in awhile on this blog. I've been keeping an old-fashioned paper journal and I'm torn on how to continue. I like writing down thoughts and ideas, even the stupid ones. I like organizing ideas. I like seeing pictures. I like taking pictures. I like looking back (but only a little bit). I like blogging and pinterest and journaling and lots of other things that kind of overlap. And this feels too cluttered. Once again, I need to simplify. But how? With a paper journal, it's easy to grab and carry with me. It's easy to flip back-and-forth. I can doodle in it. It's private but it can be shared with particular people or left to future generations for posterity. With a blog, it's easy to post pictures. It's neat and organized. It's not physical stuff. It's public (or private if I decide).

The point of starting both was to work on my writing skills. My photography (lack of) skills. So far, I've done neither. Pinterest was to be my visual interest but that seems to have bled over into these other spaces.

I guess I still don't know.

Oh well. It's not the end of the world. Until Friday. :P

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Grandmother

I lost my grandmother on October 27, 2012. I was lucky to be at her home when it happened and she was lucky to go peacefully in her sleep and in her bed.

For Grandmother

Emily Dickinson wrote:

“Because I could not stop for Death,

He kindly stopped for me.”

Grandmother stopped baking pecan pies years ago.

She stopped roasting the turkeys and making two dressings-

one with sage, one without.

She stopped swimming in the neighborhood pool-

always keeping her hair dry as she did the sidestroke.

She stopped playing bridge with her friends, Scrabble with her daughter and sisters

and tiddly winks with her grandkids.

She stopped driving to the grocery store or to get her hair done

and she stopped traveling very far to visit friends and family.

She stopped remembering the little things and the new things and the unimportant things.

But until the end, she was Grandmother.

She never stopped sewing with felt and sequins and a rainbow of thread

and she eventually went off pattern and created for herself.

She told her favorite old stories time and again from the comfort of the warmest home that we’ll over know.

She hugged her family with the brightest and youngest of smiles

and she sang her childhood songs with her husband and children nearby.

She counted Christmas cards as they were delivered

and she watched us in the frames that surrounded her.

She joined us to celebrate birthdays and holidays and regular Sundays and she signed her name with joy to every birthday card.

And she remembered all the big things and all the old things and all the important things.

And finally in her own bed,

Surrounded and visited and prayed for by the family she created and imbued with grace and light,

And after 94 years of love and happiness and peace and life,

Grandmother defied Emily Dickinson

and kindly stopped for Death.

We will miss her always but she is in everything we do and in everything we are

and we honor her by living the good, simple, warm and happy lives that she inspires.

-Amy Mathis Burns

October 29, 2012 written

October 30, 2012 read

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Birthday!

Since my birthday fell on a Tuesday, the celebration lasted about 8 days. Beginning the Saturday before with a family party (Microbrews and Microburgers) and ending today (the Sunday after my birthday) with the inauguration of my new grill.