Welcome To Our Family, Allison McAllister

Yesterday, I visited my first grandchild, Deana Shar and her baby, my first great-grandchild. Her brother, David, lives with his fiance in New Orleans. David's wife was due to give birth to their first child on or around April 21st or so.

Allison McAllister decided to arrive on March 26th instead. This is 5 days from what would have been her grandmother, Leslie Susan's 46th birthday. Even though Leslie is now with God, I know she would love this little girl as much as she loves her first grandchild, Alyssa Nicole, the daughter of Deana and Bobby Jansen. She weighed in at 6 pounds, but what a bundle of joy she will be.

I have many different friends and acquaintances about my age who have no grandchildren or great-grandchildren, and that is such a loss to their lives. Being a grandmother, and even better, a great-grandmother is the best life role ever!

God gave us loving grandchildren and great-grandchildren as a reward for all of random acts of kindness. The thing about grandchildren is that they always accept us for ourselves, without rebuke or effort to change us, as no one in our entire life has done, not our parents, siblings, spouses, friends - and hardly ever our grown children. There is love on this planet Earth because grandparents are part of the equation. The following is a poem about great-grandmothers and I wear that badge proudly:

GREAT - GRANDMOTHERS

There is a special woman whose love has meant so much.

She blesses those around her with love and tender touch.

She's strong in faith and courage, yet gentle as a dove.

She as a special mission determined by God above.

He knew one day children would walk upon this land and

He needed a special woman to guide them by the hand.

She loved them every day until they each had grown,

And soon her little babies had babies of their own.

"Grandma" or Gee Gee or NaNa they now called her, a

Sound she loved to hear.

She spread her hugs and kisses to each grandchild so dear.

She tickled them and sang to them and dried their little tears

But soon those babies grew as the days turned into years.

God watched this special woman from His kingdom up above,

And though her hair had grayed, her eyes still shown with love.

"Her work is not complete yet" the angels heard Him say.

"I still have precious children that I must send her way."

So though she's not as young as she once used to be,

She still can bounce a baby upon her bended knee.

And though her loving arms are sometime tired and sore,

They'll never be too tired to hug a child she adores.

So as you can see, God's plan was very good.

He needed one to spread his love and he knew this woman would.

So in answering God's call, we learn it is never too late.

For loving God's own children are what made this Grandma GREAT!!

(a poem by Melissa Evans)

I could never overstate how important my grandmothers were in my life. They were a port in the storm when so much chaos existed; they constantly gave me hope, reassurance and a belief in myself and what I could do with my life. To live up to the example set by these two fine women would make my life complete, and believe me I am working on it with my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

So welcome Allison, it is a guarantee that you will be loved!!

*APRES L'ONDEE* a gorgeous classic

There is something vintage-esque about violets and you can’t help but want to reminisce in their presence. Fortunately, Apres L’Ondee does not allow for protracted despondent reflection as the bergamot provides a green and uplifting opening and iris asserts itself at the heart with its floral edge. The vanilla base then keeps it smooth and sweet around those edges, so if you were about to cry over a broken memory, you’ve been given the softest pillow to lay your head. Apres L’Ondee is so lovely as you will read on many blogs, and as they say, it’s just heartbreakingly gorgeous. The name means "after the rain". Apres L'Ondee is one of the most gorgeous fragrances I have ever worn. I remember when I first sniffed it, I could imagine literally walking in the morning dew and sniffing the gorgeous violets and irises blooming near my bare feet. Very few fragrances can convey the beauty of this classic. I don't have a bottle now but I intend to own another in the very near future.

*LYRIC RAIN* fragrance by Strange Invisible Fragrances

Testament

Oh, let it be a night of lyric rain

And singing breezes, when my bell is tolled.

I have so loved the rain that I would hold

Last in my ears its friendly, dim refrain.

I shall lie cool and quiet, who have lain

Fevered, and watched the book of day unfold.

Death will not see me flinch; the heart is bold

That pain has made incapable of pain.
Kinder the busy worms than ever love;

It will be peace to lie there, empty-eyed,

My bed made secret by the leveling showers,

My breast replenishing the weeds above.

And you will say of me,

“Then has she died?Perhaps I should have sent a spray of flowers.”

Dorothy Parker

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I love the sound of rain, the smell of rain and fragrance. The above poem by Dorothy Parker captures it all. I can just imagine lying in bed on a warm summer night, hearing the comforting sound of rain falling on my roof and wearing a lovely fragrance. Strange Invisible Perfumes creates such magical and beautiful fragrances.

*MYRRHE ARDENTE* for a chilly Tundra morning

On a cool, windy Michigan morning, I have decided to comfort myself by wearing the lovely Myrrhe Ardente by Annick Goutal. It is described as follows:

Myrrhe Ardente (Perfervid Myrrh)Myrrhe Ardente is the most gourmand of scents and, to my nose, the most original too. It starts with an overdose of vanilla, which evokes vanilla ice cream then segues into a complex liquorish-y impression with a Maraschino (cherry liqueur) nuance and green herbal undertones. There is the coolness and oddness of aniseed on a woodsy leathery background.Natural myrrhe has a coldness and freshness about it and here the sensations have been reinforced with mentholated nuances. It also evokes wormwood and the drink derived from it, Absinthe. It is an interesting even captivating contrasted composition offering an unexpected soft green, slightly misty and medicinal character.The perfume through this association has a magical quality like going back in time to a 19th century Parisian café and smelling the absinthe-y breath of Verlaine half-stupefied before a glass of the green faerie. The café bar or comptoir shines in the shadowy light of a gloomy café. It smells now a little bit of dragée or sugar-coated almonds.It is a fascinating scent, difficult to place. The mind travels from a kahvehane or coffee house in Istanbul where Pierre Loti is smoking a shisha wearing babouches to a dingy café beloved by sublime drunks like Verlaine and Rimbaud. The scent becomes more powdery and feminine but is still infused with this strange oblique and mysterious aura. It smells a bit of hay.The perfume presents affinities with Serge Lutens Douce Amère, but it is completely different at the same time.

I remember the first sniff of Myrrhe Ardente. It is rare that I have an instant love with a fragrance, they usually have to grow on me, but not this one. I felt regal, as if I was wearing a dress of the softest satin with a lovely Pashmina cashmere stole around my shoulders, as I sipped warm buttered rum while sitting before a beautiful fire in my fireplace. This is a fragrance that I will love for a long time.