Assembling

 Today is assembly day. The flowers were already done but all the greenery, words, and card parts I did last night.  I love seeing the cards come together.

Do you see the grabber?  Four years ago my husband and I decided to sell our 4-bedroom, 2-story house (with its dedicated craft room 😔) because my in-laws were having health issues and we needed to have a handicap accessible place for them to live when the time came (which we thought would be a few years down the road). 

The house sold within 30 days and our condo wasn’t ready so everything was put in storage and we moved into an apartment for 5 months.  While living there my mother-in-law passed unexpectedly and my FIL wasn’t doing well living alone (he never had before).  We offered for him to move in with us. 

I will admit I was disappointed that he was coming so soon. I wanted us to have the chance to live there on our own for awhile - it was our first empty-nest home. But I saw his mental decline and knew it was the right thing to do. 

He lived with us just under a year before he got married to a lovely woman he knew in high school.  I’m thankful for their time together - she made him happy. I’m also thankful we honored him and had him living with us (honor your mother and father ... the first commandment with a promise!).  Unfortunately he passed shortly before celebrating his one-year anniversary with his new love. 

All this to say that the grabber is probably one of the most used things my FIL left here when he moved out. My craft table is bar height so my chair sits higher. I love that it has a magnetic tip to get those dies that pop out of my hand.  

I use it to bring smaller tables closer to me or to push them away. 

I use it to pull my paper closer to me. 

I’m sure when he left it he didn’t realize that I’d think of him every time I use it - which is ALOT! 

Honor your parents if they are still living. Call them, visit, spend time with them. Now that all of our parents have passed we realize that we’d love more time with them. Make sure you have no regrets when it comes to things left unsaid and undone. 

Susan