Memories of Love

 

I lost my grandma Lucy one week after Mother's Day.  It wasn't unexpected and we knew the end was imminent, but that didn't make it any easier.  I'm glad that my son's have many memories of her and I don't want them to ever forget her.  More importantly, I'm glad that I made a point during the last couple of years to photograph Lucy as much as I could as well as documenting her last few months for our family.

My youngest son and Lucy had a special relationship.  He was her 'baby boy'.  When she was at her crabbiest he would sing for her and make silly jokes, getting a giggle and smile out of her when no one else could.  When she was dying I told him he didn't have to go to the hospital to see her because I knew how difficult it was, but he insisted.  I'm doing it for her, he would say, tears in his eyes, she needs me.

I had been trying to come up with ways to somehow use my photos of Lucy as sort of a memorial to her when the opportunity came to get a canvas print from Hello Canvas. I knew immediately what I was going to do.  I showed my son all the pictures I had taken of Lucy over the past couple of years and told him to pick his favorite one to be used.  When our package arrived only 5 days later, we couldn't wait to open it.  I don't know who was more excited about it, me or my son!  Once it was opened, we propped the canvas up and stood back and looked at it in awe.  It immediately brought tears to my eyes.  Mama, my son said excitedly, MeeMaw would be so happy!  Not only would Lucy be happy, my son is happy and that is everything.  Thank you, Hello Canvas, for your help in keeping the memory of Lucy alive, just as it should be.

What about you? Do you do anything special with your photos to remember those that are no longer with us? Please share with us your ideas or show us in a photo what you have done.  We'd love to see your memories of love, too. 

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Hello Giveaway! It’s random giveaway time again from our friends at Hello Canvas. YAY!

Leave a comment here between now and Thursday at midnight and you could win a 20X24 canvas of your photo of choice from Hello Canvas!  Hello, indeed!

EDITED TO ADD:

Thank you all so much for the response on this post! Hello Canvas was so touched by this conversation of Love that they are now offering 40% off all orders when you use our promo code HELLOSISTERS! HELLO!

And thank you sisters, for sharing your beautiful, sweet, warm comments with us.  You have truly touched me. 

Comments

[kimi]

beautiful capture on canvas. now your son will always know where to look when he misses his meemaw. =)

[Meg]

This brought tears to my eyes! Thank you for sharing!

[Becky]

This post brought tears to my eyes... A beautiful photo, a beautiful son, a beautiful tribute.

[DawnS]

I have an old distressed white window (it has 2 window panes across & 4 down) that came from my grandfather's house. I enlarged black & white photos of my great-grandmother, my grandmother & my mother in their bathing suits at the beach...and also photos of my great-grandfather fishing at the beach. I matted them with a navy mat and placed the photos behind the window panes. I really loved the way it turned out!

[christine]

You son is so lucky to have known your Grandma. What a beautiful picture and a great giveaway.

[Marybeth]

i am so sorry for your loss. what a lovely photo...so pure and beautiful. what a great way to keep someone's memory alive.

http://suiteheart.blogspot.com/

[Julie Alvarez]

What a beautiful story.
I lost my best friends twelve years ago.
His sister made me a binder with many pictures of him, from his childhood to his last period, and gave it to me as a gift. I love that binder, I sometimes go through it and emotions keep changing, but it never fails to touch me deeply.
(I would have to go get a picture of the binder.)
I also have a big photo of him, almost natural size, that I used to have on my wall.
Here's a memory of him, and some pictures as well:
http://juliealvarez.blogspot.com/2008/09/girasoles-para-dirk-sunflowers-for-dirk.html

[rosebud]

So beautiful !The story and pictures brought tears to my eyes.I'm sorry for your loss.This is such a special way to honor your Grandma! Thanks for sharing!

[mamabrit]

What a beautiful canvas, in so many ways. I have several snapshots of my sisters and I as kids with my grandparents who have both now passed, just displayed in simple frames in my home.

Blessings to you and your family as you heal from your loss and continue to celebrate a wonderful life lived.

Brittany

[Gabrielle Smith]

Oh, that's lovely. I should do something similar to remember my Nana.

[Tonja]

I really love this idea! I have some photographs of my grandparents and think this would be a great idea for their pictures!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!!

[Lee]

I love the thoughtful, intimate quality of the photo within the photo and the way your son is connecting with his great-grandmother.
Thank you...

[Brenda J.]

I am so happy I happened upon this site....AND to see the link included for Hello Canvas website. It sounds like something I would enjoy so much..... Thanks again. I will be stopping by often.
Brenda

[Patty Reiser]

That is a beautiful canvas. I have a special photo that I haven't quite decided what to do with it. I'm not sure if I should have it printed on a canvas or perhaps add it to a collection of photos of my grandmother.

This photo I recently shared on my blog was taken just a few months before my grandmother passed away. Mother's Day 1994 I gathered 4 generations together before we went out to celebrate. My grandmother, my mom, me and my daughter who was barely a year old. It was extremely difficult for me to deal with because I had just lost my husband a year and 10 days before.

http://www.pkphotographyblog.us/2010/06/top-5-ideas-for-capturing-fathers-day/

[jo marks]

beautiful story, and awesome canvas. your son sounds like a lovely boy :)

[Colette]

What a beautiful photo.

[angie]

what a touching story, thank you so much for sharing.. the canvas you received truly looks stunning, i'm sure it'll be treasured for a very long time. ~angie

[Kate]

This is just simply beautiful. I have been trying to capture pictures of my boys with their grandparents. We have not lost anyone extremely close to us yet. Now is the time to just take the time to capture the memories that pass away so quickly.

[elise]

i know this is late but i just wanted to say how beautiful this is! i too lost my mawmaw the week before mother's day this year....i was one of 29 grandchildren and my son was one of 24 great-grandchildren....she loved us all so much and we all loved her and all have our own special memories of her. she raised 10 children and was still "sane" at age 86!!! she was silly and it was hard to get a serious picture of her - i know exactly where all of her children get their sense of humor - you can't get a serious picture of any of them either!

[Leah]

What an amazing story! Thank you to Hello Canvas for your generosity :)

[Kim S]

What an awesome memorial to your grandmother. And, even more awesome for your child to witness such love. The canvas is lovely.

[Justutoo]

The canvas is beautiful and so is the picture of your son holding it. It brought tears to my eyes as I read the blog behind the canvas of Lucy. My grandmother died two years ago of cancer. My son not only helped his great grandma through the difficult times by making her smile, but he also helped me as my grandmother and I were so close (oh no the tears are dropping). I think, I'll stop here, but this is a beautiful memory and I will look into doing the same. Thanks for sharing!
http://justustoo.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html

[melody]

Hi Chris, I wanted to simply say this is a tender treasure...your photo of her, your photo of your son with the canvas, the photographic journal of Grandma Lucy. Beautiful. {hug}

[Amanda K.]

My grandmother died a year ago (a few days before mother's day) and we too were incredibly close. I was actually with her when she passed, praying for her and holding her hand. I am still torn between being sad that I was the one there, and being greatful I was the one there.

Beautiful picture of her. It's such a great way to sit back and remember and that will mean so much to you and your son over the next few years, especially.

[kari]

I love that photo. Would love something like that of my girls.

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