A few years ago my mother and father in law were talking about selling their home and building a new one in a site condominium a few miles down the road from where they live now. The home would have been smaller, not as nice, and away from their twin daughters. Plus, my mother in law loves her flower gardens, and they really like their home. I spent 20 years working in the land title business and saw this same scenario with other elderly people many times. I started crunching numbers and was showing my husband, Brian, what those numbers looked like. We took the estimated sales price of their home, plus all the closing costs and realtor fees. It was sad, because they would take all of their net proceeds to build their new home in this site condominium. It would be smaller and not as nice as where they live now. It would be away from their daughters. I remember talking to Brian and I told him, “If I was in a position to have 2 of my children so close to my home, I would not want to move away from them.” Also, I am the type that I like to put down roots and make a place my home, and when I do, it is heartbreaking for me to leave. I knew for my mother-in-law, Dorothy, it would be hard for her to leave her home. I kept thinking about it and talked to Brian. I suggested that maybe we could offer to move in with them and help take care of them. That way they could stay in their home. We started talking to his mom and dad about it as well as praying about it. We felt like we should do it; that it was the right thing to do.
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My daughter Charlotte and her husband Mitch and their son Emmanuel, (or as we like to call him - Manny), came to visit for Christmas. Charlotte is a talented artist who has recently illustrated her second children's book. (almost published, I will post a link to it once it comes available). Her first book that she illustrated was titled "Dunkin on the Move". Charlotte like me has a website for her art and is also doing a blog. We both want to be more consistent and intentional with our blogs but are having a hard time doing it. We are both a bit competitive….. okay a lot competitive, so we decided to make it a challenge between us two in posting new blogs. But right after Christmas, Charlotte texted me and told me she posted a blog…. How dare her get one out before me….just like her to get a jump on it…so here I go trying this year to be more consistent with my blog… When Charlotte was here for Christmas she brought that pair of earrings (above right)…she had dropped it on the floor and they broke….well they are glass. If they hit tile or cement, there is a chance they will break, and this pair did. She was so sad as they had become one of her favorite pairs of earrings to wear. While she was here, I tried to fire them in my kiln, twice. I was trying to repair them. But glass has a memory…at least that is what my aunt taught me when I was apprenticing with her to blow glass. She told me every time a tool touches the glass it leaves its mark…..kind of like a scar.
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Mary Catherine JackowskiMOHLOM is more than a shop or a business it is my hearts cry. MOHLOM stands for More of HIM, Less of Me. As I grow older that is my desire for God to fill me and overflow to those around me. Archives
October 2019
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